Forever and Always
by thenewmarauder
Summary: Sirius Black finally loses it, leaving his family and moving in with the Potters. Starting his sixth year at Hogwarts, follow him and the Marauders trying to battle friendship, love, hate, and a world of darkness. Rated M for swearing and future sexual references. SB/OC JP/LE (rewrite of original story with same name)
1. A New Beginning

_Hey guys!_

_This message is directed to all who previously followed or read 'Forever and Always'._

_I reached chapter nineteen in the previous version of this story but I found that things weren't going as well as I hoped story-wise. I was moving the characters and plot too fast and couldn't quite keep up with myself. I feel I've learnt a lot from those mistakes so have decided to completely rewrite it all. Characters and plot will follow similarly to the original but will change rather dramatically at chapter seven. I'm hoping this time I actually plan where it is heading and follow what I want to write rather than just rush it to get chapters out. __This may sound annoying to those of you who previously read it but I feel it will pay off and you will be much happier with the outcome._

_I hope this version will capture your attention once more and maybe even bring in new readers!_

_Thank you for your support (past, present, and future) and I hope you will stay with me through this story!_

_Now, on to chapter one! Enjoy!_

_Love you!_

**_thenewmarauder_**

* * *

><p><strong><em>Author's Note!<em>**

_Hey! Welcome to the new 'Forever and Always'!_

_This is a rewrite of my original story with the same title in the hope that this one will be a million times better. I hope you enjoy it and remember to leave a review if it entertains you! Thank you!_

_Chapter One - A New Beginning_

_(thanks to '_AnotherJilyShipper' for reading and editing this!)__

_**Disclaimer:** Rowling owns it all, Merlin praise her._

_Enjoy!_

* * *

><p><em>Summer, 1975.<em>

I opened a large, golden gate. I was greeted with the smell of riches before I had even taken a step. I had walked on these grounds a million times before and probably would a million times more, but this felt different. It felt strange carrying my suitcase, blood running down my fingertips, my back wet with the sticky liquid. If people had seen me they would have thought me to be a serial killer.

A cool breeze urged me to step forwards, the building in the distance looking cozy and warm on this cold night. However, I couldn't, no matter how breathtaking it was. My black hair was wet with rain, my eyes filled with soft tears that no one would ever see, not even him. I smiled to myself, shaking my head and sending droplets everywhere, somehow making me feel better. Moving one foot forward, and then the other, I managed to start walking. Hell, I'd made it this far.

My long, shaggy hair was causing my ears to itch. There had been times that I would have shaved it all off if I could have, but every time I went to do it I'd panic, throwing things around instead. People often thought it was naturally beautiful, but it took a damn lot of taming, probably more than his did - not that he tried.

My suitcase was rolling behind me, it's wheels loud and bouncy on the smooth driveway, chalk sticking to it's wheels. Every time I walked along this driveway I was amazed. It's length was one thing, probably as long as my entire house laid flat three times over. However, it was always the door that I was engrossed by. It was a dark night, but even tonight I could see the gold glinting upon it.

There were two amazing, symmetrical lions imprinted on either side of a very large door-knocker. Each was made of real gold, probably worth more that some people's entire life savings. A small stained-glass window sat above the lions, running across the entire door. It was a strange sight, but sometimes the house owners could be eccentric people, and even their son was a bit mad. It suited them.

I reached up for the door-knocker but withdrew my hand, wincing in pain as the cut sent flashing memories through my mind. I shook my head, forcefully throwing all thoughts away, breathing calmly and reaching for the knocker again.

* * *

><p><em>'Sirius Orion Black!' she shouted. 'Don't you DARE leave this house! It will be the end of you! The end of your attachment to this family!'<em>

_I laughed, 'What attachment?' I p__ushed her out of the way, my Hogwarts suitcase jumping behind me. It was the only decent thing I wanted to keep from this dark and deformed house._

_'Sirius!'_

_I laughed again, but this time a sharp pain ran across my back. My mother had her wand out. I turned quickly enough to see another spell coming my way, holding my hand to block it. This time, pain shivered through my palm. Vases began to explode, myself dropping my case and protecting my face as much as I could._

_'You bitch!' I screamed. I pulled my own wand out, emotions running high and my body hot with anger. I waved it at her, but she quickly blocked it. I shouted 'stupefy' and sent her flying, her head hitting the floor with a thud, knocking her out cold._

_I pocketed my wand and picked up my case, walking from the house in silence._

* * *

><p>I shuddered, dreading the thought of whatever my mother had planned for me if she ever saw me again. Or my father, for that matter.<p>

I was named Sirius Orion Black at birth, not particularly the name I would have chosen - at least the last name. I wanted to distance myself from that name as much as I could. I stood at just over six feet tall, with glistening grey eyes that often shone mischievously and black hair that fell lustfully behind my head. I was currently wearing a simple black shirt, covered in blood, carrying my pride and joy - my leather jacket. I had taken it off as soon as I felt the blood run, not wanting to ruin it. My jeans were wet, my shoes and socks were wet, my skin was soaked. It wasn't exactly on the top of my 'best evening ever' lists.

I had decided to run away, seeking refuge at my best friends house. I finally cracked. I always said I would, no one ever listening. They always said I'd managed sixteen years, what's another few on top of that? However, I was done with the bastards. I'd been done since I was sorted into Gryffindor in my first year, sorted into my real family. Being a Black and a Gryffindor was the most awful thing for a Black. My life changed that day, the abuse starting.

I put up Gryffindor posters, started fascinating over motorcycles ever since my mate introduced me to them. I ran away from my families ideologies and desires, becoming my own person. For that, they hated me. They screamed, shouted, cursed me, cut me, bruised me, destroyed me in all but mind. However, like all stories, the bad things had to disappear for the good to replace them, which is why I was turning to the good things in my life, which is why I was outside Potter Manor.

I finally used the great lion door-knockers to announce my presence to the Potters. I knocked three times, calling out at the top of my lungs, 'Prongs! Jamesie! James! Jimmy! Jamie!'

I turned my back to the door, awaiting my real brother in everything but blood. The great gold gates could be seen in the distance, the acres of land between myself and them amazing me once more. The full sized Quidditch pitch, the heated swimming pool, the small forest surrounding it all - all owned by my best mate. The mansion was also beyond brilliance. It had five floors, including a ballroom, two living rooms, a kitchen, a library, a music room, eight bedrooms (all with en-suite bathrooms), and a floor dedicated entirely to the Potter's job - forbidden if we wished to keep our lives!

I stood there, inhaling the fresh country air. Potter Manor didn't have any sort of similarities to my old home at Grimmauld Place, which was the main reason I loved it, the Potters being a plus.

I heard a creak behind me. 'Padfoot?'

I spun around and grinned. There stood James Potter, wearing nothing but a pair of tracksuit bottoms, showing off his muscular top half and giving me his trademark grin.

'Not the welcome I had expected to be honest, mate,' I smiled. 'Firstly, I expected clothing. Who were you waiting for, Evans?'

He raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms, an attempt to act serious. His eyes betrayed him, as cheeky as ever.

'Secondly, rule thirteen of the Marauders guide book, I expect a hot beverage and a snack. All guests at a place of 'home' must immediately be serviced a snack and beverage. You know that!'

He was smiling again, folding his arms behind his back and allowing me to continue.

'And lastly, I expect...' I hesitated. 'Maybe a welcome into your home for a few weeks?'

He paused, noticing my suitcase. 'Wait there.' He turned around, shutting his door.

'Dude! I was joking!' I knocked again, the door reopening a few seconds later, James in a huge grey trench coat covering him from neck to toe.

'This better?' he asked, pointing at his now covered body.

I laughed, my hand betraying me and causing me to shake it in pain. He didn't notice, continuing.

'No, I was not waiting for Lily, although how nice would that be?' he smiled, far too enthusiastic. 'Secondly, I have Izzy making a hot chocolate and some sandwiches right now, and thirdly -" he cut himself off and bear hugged me, crushing my organs and back, shivering pain rushing through my spine. 'You're welcome here forever, you know that.' He let go and grinned at me. 'Come in you idiot, you're soaked, we'll talk in our living room and you can tell me everything.'

I smiled and grabbed my trunk, already lightened with magic after immediately learning the spell as soon as I could. I followed James into the Manor, down the corridor, and through the second door on the left, entering a huge red and gold room.

'You have no idea how much I've missed that fire, and that sofa, and that little draw full of your favourite sweets,' I laughed joyfully, my back numb with pain. I carefully jumped onto the sofa closest to the roaring fire, raiding the draw and picking out some liquorice wands.

'I bet I have quite the idea, actually,' James replied, taking one of the liquorice wands. 'You wanna talk about it? You've turned up out of the blue before, but never bringing your case.' His smile turned into a frown. 'They've kicked you out, haven't they! Those bastards!' He grabbed his wand and started walking out the room.

'James, you prat, don't think you can sort this out mate, not this time.' He turned around and looked at me.

'It's done, I finally gave up, I couldn't stay there any more. I left, no damage done, you don't need to act all brave and show them how great you are at duelling, Snivellus can receive that side of you when we get back to school.'

James smiled, his eyes still hostile and fists balled. 'So you're actually here for good this time then?'

'Well, until I find a place of my own, yeah, I suppose I am.'

'Great, being here alone was starting to make me mad!'

I smiled, for the first time since I'd last seen him. 'Its been a week since we broke up and you're going mad already?'

'You try living with just your parents and a house elf, in this massive place!'

I thought about that for a second. 'You know what, I am going to try that, and I think I'm going to bloody well enjoy it!'

We laughed, Izzy the house elf walking in with the hot chocolate and sandwiches James had asked for. 'Here you go, Master James, and Master Sirius!' the little elf jumped for joy. 'Master Sirius! You're here!'

I smiled at the little elf as I leant forward. 'Yes, Izzy, I am.'

'For how long, Master Sirius?' she questioned, walking over to me and handing me a sandwich.

'Forever,' I chuckled. 'Hey, listen,' I spoke to James, 'you think you could check something for me?'

He nodded, Izzy clapping happily as she walked from the room. I put my sandwich down and quickly unbuttoned my shirt, pulling it off and smiling at him, despite my pain.

'Whoa, at least take me out for a drink first,' he joked.

I turned around, his gasp confirming my suspicions. 'That bad, huh?'

'Merlin, Sirius, it's awful! Not even Remus gets cuts that deep.'

I groaned, completely underestimating the situation. 'You think you could do me a solid and heal it for me?'

I could quite literally hear him shake his head. 'I'm not Remus, Sirius. I know a temporary spell but you'll have to wait till my parents are home tomorrow for it to be healed properly.'

'Then do it, my palm as well.'

'Why, what's wrong with that?'

I held up my hand for him to see, the flesh still oozing a small amount of blood. I was actually going rather dizzy. I could feel his wand move across my back, his mouth muttering a spell, my back healing temporarily. He quickly did my hand for me, the fire being the only source of sound. The frown on his face was enough for me to guess what was going through his mind.

'Seriously, James, I'm over it, you should be too.'

He stood up and shouted, taking off his coat and throwing it against the wall. 'Repeatedly, they've done this to you, Sirius! Every summer you have had fresh cuts and bruises. This is enough to put them away in Azkaban!'

'Not quite, mate,' I shrugged, 'I kind of stupefied that bitch, probably not going to hold up well in a hearing.'

He looked at me, his dark, hazel eyes peering into my soul, judging my attitude. 'You want to let it go? Just like that?'

I nodded, 'I need to put them behind me, mate. I want a new beginning, no more mentioning of the Black family. Ever.'

'Ever,' he repeated, nodding his head, sipping his hot chocolate and handing me mine.

I thanked him. 'This is going to be the start of a new beginning for me.'

'And I'll be there, along with my parents, and Remus and Pete. We're all here mate, you don't need those pricks in your life, we're your family now.'

I grinned, gulping my hot chocolate. 'If this gets any cheesier I'm going to throw up.' James chuckled, myself laughing again. 'In all seriousness though, thanks mate.'

'Don't worry about it,' James replied with a cool wave of his hand. 'Lets go upstairs, your old room is just how you left it.'

I nodded excitedly, my wolfish eyes lighting up, placing my cup on the coffee table and picking up the ham and cheese sandwich Izzy had given me. We both walked out of the room, heading through the ballroom and up the many staircases that led us to our floor, the third floor. We weren't even at the second floor by the time I had finished my sandwich, silently following him through his maze.

'Is there still a hot tub in my room?' I wondered aloud, James stopping and turning to me, frowning when I pushed him to continue.

'You put a hot tub in your room?' he questioned loudly.

'Does your family communicate less than mine?' I asked him. 'Your Dad did it for me.'

'Why didn't he do that to mine?' he asked angrily, running his hand through his hair, a habit I was more than used to.

'Probably because you never asked him,' I replied, stating the obvious. 'Speaking of which, when did you say your parents are home?'

'In the morning, we'll tell them you're here tomorrow. We need to get some sleep first, you bloody well look like you need it.'

'Thanks for that.'

'It's your hair, it goes all frizzy when you're tired and angry.'

'Never tell anyone that, it makes us sound like a couple.'

He stopped again, hand on his heart. 'You mean we aren't a couple?'

'If I weren't tired I'd slap you.' I threatened.

'How's that helping our relationship?' he asked.

'Shut up.'

'Okay, okay.' We stopped in front of my room. 'Well, I'm sure you can find your way from here, considering you are standing in front of the door. My room is right next door, as you know, so goodnight.'

With that, he walked away, turning into his door and leaving me in the hallway. I sighed, turning my doorknob and opening it slowly, excited to be back in my own room.

'Surprise!' I suddenly heard, James in front of me holding his hands above his head to shock me.

I almost jumped. 'What the hell!' I walked in, noticing a major difference. 'Where the hell is the wall that separated our rooms?'

'My dad knocked it down for me! I was kidding about the whole hot tub thing! I found out immediately and got my dad to take the wall out so I could use it!'

I was shocked, and I shouldn't have been. 'I'm genuinely surprised,' I grinned. 'Now instead of me walking around naked in the morning, I'll be walking around naked with an audience.'

He shrugged, 'Nothing I haven't seen before.'

I rolled my eyes, looking around the room. 'Looks a lot like our Hogwarts dorm. Same rules apply.'

'Wait,' he objected. 'You're making rules now? How does that work?'

'Well, I'm older, superior, sexier, more awesome. Need I continue?'

'Shut up. I've already drawn a line down the middle of the rooms because I know how OCD you are about your stuff.'

The line was in golden tape. 'I like it,' I grinned, turning around and jumping onto my bed. 'My case is downstairs.'

'I'll go get it, mate,' James offered.

'No, don't worry, I'll do it,' I yawned, my eyes already closed.

He laughed, 'Go to sleep.'

I rolled over, not even bothering to undress, just slipping under the covers.

'James?' I called after him.

He sighed, 'Yeah mate?'

'Thanks, for everything.'

'Don't worry Padfoot, now go to sleep.'

I laughed for the final time that evening, turning off the lights.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Author's Note<strong>_

_Thanks to all of you if you stuck through to read this note, and please Review! _I'd like to know where you want this story to go and what you think is going to happen!__

_As I am only going over and editing the chapters of the previous version of this story updates should be fairly regular, at least until I am writing fresh content again._

_Thanks for reading! Until next time!_

__P.S. I'm actually working on my very own original story right now! It would mean a lot to me if you could visit my profile and check out the Facebook link for it? Thank you!__


	2. The Start of Summer

**_Author's Note!_**

_Hey! Welcome to the new 'Forever and Always'!_

_This is a rewrite of my original story with the same title in the hope that this one will be a million times better. I hope you enjoy it and remember to leave a review if it entertains you! Thank you!_

_Chapter Two - The Start of _Summer__

_(thanks to '_AnotherJilyShipper' for reading and editing this!)__

_**Disclaimer:** Rowling owns it all, Merlin praise her._

_Enjoy!_

* * *

><p>I awoke early the next morning, the summer sun peeking through a gap in my curtains. James had obviously opened a window in the night, a cool breeze brushing over my skin. I sat up and looked around, inspecting the room. My back and palm were beginning to hurt again, James' spell wearing off. He was still sleeping, however, so I'd deal with it until he was awake.<p>

Despite the missing wall, almost everything in the room was exactly the same. Both of our beds were mirrored, mine being in the furthest corner of my room and his in the opposite corner across from mine. The walls were decorated in red and gold, just as our Hogwarts dorm was. Everything else was also Gryffindor themed, from the carpet to the wardrobes. Even the lights beside our beds were red and gold. The only major difference was that in the corner opposite my bed was a hot tub, large enough for four people to sit in. To this day I was still amazed at the size of his house.

James had a whole collection of items on his side of the room. He had Quidditch equipment hanging on the walls with posters of his favourite team sitting beside them. How anyone could love the Chudley Cannons though was beyond me. Photos of his family and our group were also dotted around, a big photo of all of us at Christmas on his bedside table. His clothes were thrown across the floor, both clean and dirty, a habit that proved difficult to stop. Empty sweet packets were stuck to the carpet and messily thrown next to the rubbish bin, obviously failed attempts to throw them in. He was a messy git.

My side of the room was completely different. I'd only been here an evening but my suitcase was tidily sat at the foot of my bed. No doubt my clothes would join his on the floor very soon. I had decorated my side with posters of motorbikes and pictures similar to James'. They seemed rather bare compared to his, though. All of my Quidditch equipment was in my suitcase, so I'd have to put them up later.

I sighed, moving over to the end of my bed and kicking the suitcase onto its side, allowing me to open it to reach in for my clothes. I picked out some shorts, the weather outside looking bright enough to sit out in. We both had en-suite bathrooms to our rooms, myself deciding to take a quick shower.

James was still snoring away when I was putting on my shorts. I didn't know what time it was but I knew it was definitely time to wake him up. It was almost a tradition at this point for myself to wake him up incredibly early. My sleeping habits had caused our entire dorm, Remus and Peter included, to stay up into the late hours of the night and then wake up a couple of hours later ready to go. In my eyes I was doing them a favour. It provided so much more time for activities.

Touching my aching back, I tiptoed over to James' bed, quietly enough for him to not notice me. I inched my face towards his ear, his messy black hair sticking up all over the place. On a final thought I pocketed his glasses, well aware of his fiery temper in the mornings - he and Evans were more suited than even he knew. The less eyesight he had, the less damage he could do to me.

I breathed in, and in one loud shout awoke him from his dreams. 'James!'

He shot up like a bullet, his eyes almost snapping open. He looked around, clutching his covers to his chest. 'Dammit, Sirius!' he groaned, flopping back down onto his pillow. So far, so good.

'A week,' he grumbled into his pillow. 'You had a week of uninterrupted sleep, James, be grateful of that much.'

'So you should be,' I grinned to myself, putting his glasses back now I was out of danger. 'It's time you woke up anyway.'

'No, Sirius,' he moaned, looking up in my direction. 'It shouldn't be time. Not at all.' He picked up his watch. 'Six o'clock, Sirius. For Merlin's sake, go back to sleep!'

I waved my arms in protest, 'I've showered, I'm dressed! Get up.'

He asked me to leave using some words that shouldn't ever be used, pulling his covers over his head. I noticed a dribble mark on his pillow.

Grinning to myself, I sat beside his bed. 'Dreaming of Evans again, were you?'

'Piss off,' he grumbled.

'I couldn't help but notice your dribble patch, James. That only happens when you dream of Evans, right?'

'Piss off.'

'Many years of observation has led me to believe that only when you dream of red hair and emerald eyes does saliva leave your mouth and set on your pillow.'

'Piss. Off.'

I laid back on the floor to my own stupidity. I yelped and touched my cut once more. The spell seemed to have stopped the bleeding but it was definitely reopening.

'Okay, fine,' I finally said, 'if you wont reply to that then maybe you'll get up to fix my bloody back.'

'Your back is bleeding again?' he asked from under his covers, not bothering to look for himself.

'No, it's just opening up and it hurts. A lot.'

His eyes poked out from beneath his sheets. 'You said 'bloody back'?'

'An expression, James,' I reminded him. There were rough lines under his eyes, the beginnings of what appeared to me to be wrinkles.

'Are you getting old, mate?' I grinned.

This time his whole head poked out, his hazel eyes definitely awake. 'What?'

'Under your eyes,' I smiled, 'looks like bags.'

He immediately touched his eyes, jumping out of his bed in just his boxers and running to his bathroom. The boy was nearly as obsessed with the way he looked as I was.

'You're an arsehole,' he shouted from his bedroom, turning on his shower anyway.

I grinned, distracting myself by picking up a toy bludger and throwing it against the wall. Mid throw I heard something from the window nearest to James' bed, a soft tapping. I looked over to see the silhouette of a bird outside, James' bird. I quickly stood up and opened the blind and window, allowing the bird to come inside. It appeared James had only opened my window and not his own.

'Poof!' I exclaimed, the tiny bird nibbling at my fingers in acknowledgement. 'What you got there, buddy?' I asked him, picking the letter from his feet and throwing it onto James bed. He hooted twice, quickly disappearing out of the window again. 'Good to see you too,' I murmured sarcastically.

Poof was James' birthday present from his parents in his first year. James hadn't initially picked the name Poof, but he took so long to decide so I jumped in and named it for him. He wasn't too happy at first but he got used to it.

I scratched my palm, wondering how long the messy haired kid was going to take. Sighing, I sat on his bed and picked the letter up. It was obviously addressed to James, but that didn't stop me from trying to recognise the handwriting. I could tell whose it was just by glancing at it, I'd copied the bloke's work enough times.

'What's that?' James suddenly asked, towel wrapped around his waist. That had to be the quickest shower ever.

'Letter from Moony,' I told him, throwing the small piece of parchment to him. 'What's it about?' I asked as he read it.

He softly sighed, looking at me with a little less life. 'His transformation is this week. I so wanted to be there for him but his parents have strict regulations.'

I nodded, knowing exactly how he was feeling. 'I get it, I do, but he's done it before on his own. The thing that sucks most is that his next one will probably coincide with the week we go back to Hogwarts.'

James shook his head, walking to his drawer for some underwear. 'I already checked, it's about a week before. He's still got enough time to stay with us for the last week.'

'Good,' I smiled, walking to my bed and facing away from him so he could get dressed. 'Anything about Pete in there?'

James quickly read through it again. 'His mother is ill again, something to do with her stomach. He wrote to Remus a few days ago.'

'Fair enough,' I spoke, turning around to see him in a pair of shorts also. 'You going to reply to that?'

He shook his head, 'Not just yet, my parent's should be home now, we need to see them about your back.'

I nodded, walking to my suitcase to pick up a clean shirt, one that allowed room for my back to breathe without the fabric rubbing.

'Hey,' James spoke, 'where'd Poof go?'

'Back outside,' I told him. 'Didn't stay for long, not even for a treat.'

'Weird,' he shrugged, opening the door opposite my bed. 'Now, let's go and fix you. May take a while, but...'

I punched his arm, brushing my hair out of my eyes. 'Fixing me would be a lot easier than fixing you.'

He walked to the stairs at the end of the hall, laughing mockingly at me. 'You're joking? You have way more problems than I do, physically and mentally.'

I agreed, but didn't want him to know that. 'Rubbish, take away your biggest problem and you're useless. No eyesight and you'd be screwed. How would you look at dear Evans every day?'

He ran his hand through his hair. 'I have enough of a mental image to not need to look at her ever again.'

We descended to the second floor, still going down the stairs that led to the ballroom. 'But what if she was naked, Prongs?' I teased. 'You wouldn't want to not to be able to see her if she was in her birthday suit.'

He gazed at me as though I was the devil. 'You haven't won,' he told me as we stepped onto the huge ballroom floor, 'but I will give you this round.'

'One point to me,' I chuckled cockily, his eyes flaring momentarily, then joining me in the laughter.

We stepped into a large kitchen, a small table set out for James and his parents, obviously used to save time. The first floor consisted of the huge ballroom in the middle, with a lounge either side. The lounge on the left was ours, furthest to the back of the house, and the lounge to the right was his parents (or the 'Family Room'), closest to the front of the house. Behind that was the dining room and in front of James' was the kitchen. There was a bathroom both sides and a hallway between the walls of the ballroom and the outer rooms. On our side was a door that led to a basement, with something amazing inside it.

'Izzy,' James greeted cheerily.

'Mr James,' she smiled, 'you're up early! Mr Sirius as well!'

She was also so happy to see us. 'Morning, Izzy.'

'What have you got for us this morning?' James asked her, sitting down on the four person table.

She blushed slightly, looking at the floor. I didn't know house elves could blush. 'Nothing yet, Mr James, I didn't expect you until lunch. I can have bacon, eggs, and toast ready in a few minutes?'

'That'll be fantastic, Izzy,' I smiled, 'I'll make the coffee.'

'Whoa!' James protested. 'Coffee? I think you'd be better with juice, you're not allowed coffee, remember!'

I rolled my eyes, making for the fridge instead of the coffee machine. I picked out some orange juice and retrieved two glasses from the cupboard beside it, allowing room for Izzy to pass by me to get to their enormous oven.

I went back to the table, James already sitting down. 'No helping us, then?' I asked him, pouring his drink for him.

He pushed his glasses up his nose, grinning. 'My house, you wait on me.'

I thought for a moment. 'That isn't how it works?'

'It isn't?' he questioned, still smiling. 'I could have sworn it was.'

I shook my head, 'No. It isn't. You wait on me, the guest.'

'Fine,' he agreed, placing his hands on the table and leaning forward. 'What would you like to do today, Sir Padfoot?'

'That's more like it,' I pointed, sitting back on my chair, smiling dumbly.

He stared at me for a moment. 'Well?'

'Wait, you actually want me to pick something to do?'

'Sure, you've had a rough few days. Kicked out onto the streets, left abandoned, not a soul left to carry you on their shoulder.'

'Ouch,' I grinned. 'I'll take it.'

'You deserve it,' he smirked, raising his glass to me.

'Right. How about we find your parents so they can fix me up and then we'll pick something?'

He laughed, 'No need for that, mate, they're behind you.'

I spun around, finding myself face to face with Mr and Mrs Potter. I gaped, not expecting them to be awake this early. It was barely seven!

Mr and Mrs Potter were both aurors well into their late sixties. However, the looked younger than McGonagall herself. They had greying hair, Mrs Potter's a little less so than his. His hair was just like James', standing up in several directions and naturally messy. They would have been identical had his not been grey.

Mrs Potter had light blue eyes, whereas James' took after his Dad's, completely hazel. It seemed that James was just a copy of his father. I don't think he shared any major similarities with his mother, other than his fuller lips and smaller nose and ears. To be honest, he was the perfect combination of the two of them, taking only their best qualities. He could have been described as perfect to some people, excluding Evans.

The stared at me with a surprised smile. 'Sirius!' Mrs Potter exclaimed, rushing over to hug me. 'How are you? Why are you here so soon, we didn't expect you until the end of summer.'

'You're five weeks early, m'boy,' Mr Potter chuckled, patting me on the shoulder and sitting beside me on the table. 'Why come early? Did anything happen at home?' he asked with the same angry glare that James had used. Mrs Potter sat opposite me, next to James, after helping Izzy with a heavy pot.

'Yes, actually,' James answered for me, his face angry and red once more. 'His mother -'

'Let the man answer for himself, son,' Mr Potter sternly requested. 'What happened?'

'Things didn't quite go to plan at home, with the family and all,' I answered vaguely, 'so, I decided to seek refuge here with you for the summer if that's okay?'

They both nodded, inspecting me. 'Why did you leave, Sirius?' Mrs Potter asked me.

I sighed, not wanting to go too far into detail, James sitting back silently on his chair. 'My mother and I had our last argument. Words were exchanged -'

'As were spells,' James interrupted.

'- And I packed my things and left. I've been disowned.'

Mrs Potter put a hand to her mouth, reaching out with her other one to put it above mine. Mr Potter sat quietly, looking at his son. They always seemed to be able to communicate without words.

'I'm so sorry, dear,' Mrs Potter sympathised. 'I knew you argued, but I never knew how badly!'

Mr Potter put his hand up, interrupting his wife. 'What sort of spells, Sirius?'

I looked at James, who nodded. I stood up and unbuttoned my shirt. 'That's where I need your help. James could only do a temporary spell to heal it.'

I took my shirt off and showed them my back, the cut running from top to bottom.

'Merlin, Sirius,' Mr Potter exclaimed, pulling his wand from his pocket and heading to the door.

'Charlus, where are you going?' Mrs Potter exclaimed, glaring at him.

'I can get them arrested for this, with his back as evidence,' he growled. 'It's inevitable. Behind bars.'

'It's not worth the trouble, Mr P,' I told him, looking to James again. 'They'd pay the ministry off and get off free. They always do. At least if we leave them alone they'll forget about me and I'll have no more interactions with them. They'd hold a grudge if we went to court against them.'

He stared at me as though I were mad, and then at his wife. She nodded, her hands running down the broken skin. He finally exhaled, moving back towards me and spinning me around, checking my back.

'No spell can truly heal this, Sirius,' he informed me. 'Your best bet is dittany.'

James snapped his fingers, grinning, 'I knew it!'

'Then why didn't you use it, 'smartest boy in your entire year'?' his mother questioned.

'We have some in the house?' he asked, scratching his black hair, frowning.

She sighed, pulling her wand from her pocket and summoning it, a little bottle flying to her hand.

'In my defense,' James protested as she glared at him like all mothers did, 'I can't use magic yet.'

She sighed, Mr Potter grabbing my shoulders and holding my as though I were made of glass, crushing my bones so I didn't get dropped.

'Why so tight?' I asked, Mrs P opening the bottle.

'Have you ever had dittany poured onto you, Sirius?' he questioned. I shook my head. 'It hurts, a lot.'

'Sure it does,' I grinned, winking at James.

'This will sting, Sirius,' Mrs P announced.

'Don't worry, Mrs P, I can handle anything and everything the world throws at me.'

I was cut off as she spread the dittany over my back, an intense burning and electrifying pain running across my entire body. I felt my back shrivel and tighten, as though I was being sewn together.

'Holy Merlin!' I shouted in pain, my eyes watering. No healing was worth this. 'That bloody hurts!'

They were all grinning around me, even Mr P. I felt the last drop hit the bottom of my back, Mr P finally letting me go.

'Don't be such a baby, mate,' James chuckled. 'We all thought you were a man?'

Mrs P playfully slapped his hand, stopping his teasing. 'Anywhere else, dear?'

I reluctantly showed her my hand, going through the same process as I had before, yelping like a dog when she smothered my hand in the liquid. A long, white scar was left in the disappearance of the cut.

'You'll have one on your back as well,' she informed me, going over to one of the cabinets and pulling out some bandages. 'Unfortunately the cuts were left too long to heal with no scars.'

I shrugged, now at the itching stage of the healing. 'Just some new battle scars to add to the collection.'

'Speaking of, Sirius, are you sure about not going after them? We would win the case, son.'

I adamantly refused. 'Not a chance, I don't want to see them ever again.'

He nodded in defeat, Izzy announcing breakfast was only moments away. Mrs Potter stood me up again. 'I want to bandage these to stop you scratching them. You could open them up again.'

I nodded, the process only taking a moment. By the time she was done and I had my shirt back on, Izzy had laid the table and set out the food so we could all take what we wanted.

We ate for a moment, James reading his father's newspaper as he did. 'Have you seen this, Dad?' he asked him with a mouthful of bacon, throwing the paper towards him, miraculously not hitting anyone's food.

'What?' I asked him, looking between the two of them. 'Is it another attack?' I asked James. He nodded.

There had been many attacks over the past year or so, mainly aimed towards muggles and muggle-born wizards. All innocent people, just caught in the supposedly 'wrong' bloodline according to the attackers. It was one of the main reasons I had left my family, all of them being supremacist bastards. They agreed with the attacks, and being from a rich heritage of 'pureblood' wizards, they had nothing to worry about. They were all for ridding the world of muggles, whereas I was up for kicking the attacker's arses.

'A small one,' Mr Potter observed, looking through his large glasses. 'Two deaths and three injured.'

'Is that all?' I murmured sarcastically. 'When will this guy stop, he knows he can't win this war, right?'

Mr and Mrs P looked at each other, then back at me. 'That's the thing, Sirius,' Mrs P whispered, 'he thinks he can. Even Dumbledore has been cautious with him. Something is different about him.'

The room was eerily quiet. 'There have been thirty deaths in the past three months,' Mr Potter continued for her. 'Nobody can track down this monster. He has something that all other dark wizards have never had, something that makes even the ministry scared.'

James coughed, sipping his orange juice. 'You'll get him, though,' he smiled. 'You and the other aurors, I mean. You were personally there to help Dumbledore take down Grindelwald. If you could do that then you can get this guy.'

Mrs P smiled, 'James, in case you hadn't noticed, we're old now! It's getting difficult, only a handful of us older aurors remain.'

Mr P nodded. 'There are a few young and brilliant auror trainees but none of them really stick out as amazing. Our career is unsightly to most. There aren't as many of us as there used to be.'

James and I looked at each other knowing what they said was true. Many of the attacks had been directed at older aurors, the ones who could really make a difference. Not many people wanted to be aurors anymore, it was too frightening, too risky.

'Anyway,' Mrs Potter suddenly half-shouted, cheerily. 'Don't you boys worry about it. Focus on Hogwarts and enjoy your last two years.'

'Sure thing, Mrs P,' I chuckled, putting the discussion behind us. 'I'll keep your boy out of trouble and we'll make these years memorable.'

James winked at me. We'd planned a lot of new pranks before we'd broke up for the summer, and with an almost finished project we'd be unstoppable. Along with the rest of the summer, we'd have enough ideas to tear the school down.

They laughed, Mrs P looking at the plates on the table. 'Right, you boys go on and do whatever it is you usually do, I'll clear up.'

'You sure, mum?' James asked, his hands going to help her.

She nodded, sternly looking at him until he took his hands away from the table. 'Enjoy yourselves today, there will be plenty of jobs eventually.'

We accepted her offer, disappearing from the room quickly and heading to our lounge. 'Depressing subject, wasn't it,' I whispered to him.

He nodded gloomily. 'Old,' he tutted to himself. 'They aren't old.'

I wanted to agree with him but he was completely wrong. His parents _were_ old. The had wrinkles, grey hair, Mr Potter often walked with a stick. They were getting far too old to carry on and James was completely oblivious to it. I supposed that if you loved your parents you would see them as invincible.

'What shall we do today, then?' I asked him instead, taking his mind away from the subject.

'Quidditch,' he grinned immediately without any hesitation.

I stopped walking, 'I thought it was my choice?'

He also stopped walking, heading back towards the ballroom instead. 'You revoked that privilege the moment you asked me.'

We opened a door, heading across the shiny floor and under the enormous chandelier, making our way to his room. I guessed we needed to collect our brooms and appropriate clothes before we headed outside.

'Fine,' I agreed. 'What if I hadn't have wanted to play Quidditch?'

'I would have beaten you until you did,' he laughed to himself, running his hand through his hair.

We reached the second floor. 'Are Moony and Wormtail coming over at all this summer, then?' I asked him.

'After we receive our OWLs,' he told me, heading up to the third floor. 'I figure they'll want to compare results and then go to Diagon Alley or something for our supplies.'

'Sounds good,' I nodded.

'We can't really do it any earlier,' he continued, 'with Moony's furry little problem and Wormtail's mother being ill all the time.'

That had crossed my mind. 'I do wish we could have joined him, I would have liked a night of running around.'

He caught my drift, grinning to himself. 'We can always go for a little run tonight in the forest?'

'You're a brilliant man with brilliant ideas,' I told him.

'It has been known to happen,' he laughed with me.

We walked into his room, Poof flying around and hooting happily.

'Ah, there you are,' James shouted at him, making the bird jump a little bit. It was only small, the poor thing. 'I have some food for you in my drawer.'

He walked over to his bedside table, opening a draw and taking a handful of small treats from a plastic bag.

'They stink,' I told him, scrunching my nose.

'Yeah they do,' he chuckled, used to the smell. He placed them on his windowsill, Poof flying over to them and nibbling at them furiously.

'He must be starving,' I observed.

'He is,' James said, slightly worried. 'He hardly ever eats anymore.'

'Weird,' I agreed.

He stood there for a moment, arms crossed, staring at the bird. He then shook his head, muttering to himself. 'Get changed, mate, we have a full day of Quidditch ahead of us.'

I smiled, walking over to my suitcase and picking out my Quidditch clothes. 'I'm going to kick your arse.'

* * *

><p><em><strong>Author's Note<strong>_

_Thanks to all of you if you stuck through to read this note, and please Review! I'd like to know where you want this story to go and what you think is going to happen!_

_As I am only going over and editing the chapters of the previous version of this story updates should be fairly regular, at least until I am writing fresh content again._

_Thanks for reading! Until next time!_

_P.S. I'm actually working on my very own original story right now! It would mean a lot to me if you could visit my profile and check out the Facebook link for it? Thank you!_


	3. OWL's

**_Author's Note!_**

_Hey! Welcome to the new 'Forever and Always'!_

_This is a rewrite of my original story with the same title in the hope that this one will be a million times better. I hope you enjoy it and remember to leave a review if it entertains you! Thank you!_

_Chapter Three - _OWL's__

_(thanks to '_AnotherJilyShipper' for reading and editing this!)__

_**Disclaimer:** Rowling owns it all, Merlin praise her._

_Enjoy!_

* * *

><p>The summer moved at a steady pace after the first week, although perhaps slightly too fast. However, those few weeks were absolutely the most fun I'd ever had. Definitely the best summer I'd ever had. If I were back at home I'd be dying to get back to Hogwarts and the days would have dragged, but here I didn't really want to face the reality of school again. I wanted the summer to continue.<p>

Our schedules every day followed a similar pattern, only the activity changed. We'd wake up, eat food, read the newspaper and keep as up to date about the attacks as we could, then eat more food. After that would come an activity of sorts, whether it was Quidditch, swimming, cycling, or anything that involved being outside. The weather had been tremendously good. Following that we'd end up eating again, planning pranks, I'd tease Prongs about Evans, and then we'd eat again. There was no worrying about homework, no commitment, no anything! We'd sit, talk about girls, motorbikes, anything that we wanted to talk about.

Unfortunately, all good things had to come to an end.

I awoke early as usual. Today was the day that marked only a week left until Hogwarts. I quickly got out of bed, showered, clothed myself, and then woke James. That was my routine for the morning. This morning I ended up lazing around for twenty minutes while James got ready.

'So,' James spoke as we walked out of our bedroom, finally finished... almost. 'Our OWL's could come today. Excited?'

OWL's usually arrived earlier through the holidays but for some reason they had been delayed this year.

I shrugged as he pulled on his shirt. 'Since when did we get excited about school grades, mate?' I asked him. 'We know exactly what's going to happen.'

He laughed. 'Just making conversation. Not really all that fussed myself, it's pretty much a guarantee that we'll pass.'

'I think we're looking at O's all around, right?' I grinned cockily.

He nodded, walking down the ballroom stairs. 'Definitely, without a doubt. I'm more excited that Remmy and Pete are coming over as soon as they've opened theirs.'

Remus and Pete had both promised that as soon as they'd opened their OWL's with their families they'd come over and stay with us. That meant that we were more than excited, ready to show them everything we'd planned for our next year at Hogwarts.

'So am I,' I agreed. 'We need them to go over all of our plans. Plus we need Remus to look over the map quickly.'

James nodded. 'With that nearly done, we're going to be unstoppable!'

We stepped across the hard, cold floor. 'Also, we need them to match up our Quidditch teams. I'm sick of beating you,' I chuckled. In fact, I hadn't won once, he was bloody brilliant, but I couldn't let that get to his already over-sized head.

'You know that's a lie,' he frowned, easily frustrated. 'You just can't stand the fact that James Potter is better than Sirius Black at Quidditch.'

'Referring to yourself in third person?' I asked, 'Isn't that a sign of madness or something?'

'Narcissism, actually,' James informed me, completely unaware that his ego was the biggest on the planet.

'Suits you then,' I smirked quietly.

He looked at me, raising a brow. Now that he had grown over the summer he stood a few inches above me. Unfortunately for me that meant that he was now that tallest in the group, and he took that in stride. The moment he passed me was the moment he started joking about my height, mockingly looking down at me as though I were a peasant. I knew he only did it for a laugh but he had found my weak point. Where I used to make fun of his eyesight and Evans-obsession, he now makes fun of my height. I was just under six feet as well, literally an inch and a half below him.

'What was that?' he smiled.

I shook my head, opening the door to the kitchen and walking inside. 'Nothing like the smell of cooked pig in the morning!' I announced, the smell of bacon wafting into my nose.

I noticed Mr and Mrs P sitting down here already, for the first time before eight since I had arrived. They were never down here this early unless they worked through the night or it was something important.

'Sirius, James,' Mr P smiled. 'Good morning.'

'Morning,' I replied to him, James greeting his mother. 'You two are down here early today, work late?'

'No, no,' he waved his hand, 'Dumbledore told us at the ministry yesterday that your OWL's will be here today, so we came downstairs to make breakfast in celebration.'

'You prepared it?' I asked skeptically.

'I can cook by myself, Sirius,' he chuckled, 'however much you may not believe it.'

'It's not that I don't believe it,' I said to make him feel better, 'it's just last time you cooked you burnt down half the kitchen. We lived off of take-away food and porridge for the rest of the week.

He laughed loudly, pointing at the plate of bacon, eggs, and sausages in front of me, toast set in the middle of the table. Muffins were set out as well, along with croissants and biscuits. 'Does this look burnt to you?'

'Not at all,' I smiled, taking a bite of a sausage. 'Actually, it tastes really good!'

He sneered his nose for a moment, hating it when I spoke with a mouthful. I used to do it to annoy my family but it became a habit. His sneer then disappeared, and he looked behind himself to see his wife and son still talking.

'I lied,' he apologized to me. 'Don't tell them but I tried to cook some bacon and it just burned, so I got Izzy to take over for me.'

'I knew it,' I snapped my fingers, laughing. It was funny how a man who could duel dark wizards without harming a hair on his head couldn't find his way around a kitchen. 'Well, it still tastes great. Maybe I could teach you how to cook toast or something?'

'It isn't worth the trouble, Sirius,' he admitted. 'If I can't cook after all the years I've been living then there isn't a single reason why I should try learning now.'

I nodded, his hazel eyes filled with a kind of sad regret. Poor bloke couldn't cook a sausage. I threw a piece of toast at James, who was staring at the window with his mouth open.

'You a little bit worried over there, mate?' I asked with a grin.

'I'm not worried,' he immediately defended. 'I'm never worried, I'm James Potter!'

I rolled my eyes, 'And you wonder why Evans calls you an arrogant toerag.'

Mrs Potter looked at me, smiling, 'And this Evans girl is the one -'

'That James is and has been obsessed with for the past five years? Yes. Did you know he was rejected by her twelve times in one week? That was only last term as well...'

'Sirius!' he cut me off, noticing his parent's laughing at him, Mrs P shaking her head sympathetically.

'Don't worry, son,' Mr P said through breaths, 'she'll come around.'

I shook my head a little, winding James up. 'Not with a head that size.'

'Sirius, I'm warning you,' he threatened, 'I know where you sleep.'

'Who doesn't?' I winked, making him grin.

'Enough of that, boys,' Mrs P suddenly spoke. 'Look what's here!'

James and I jumped out of our chairs, rushing to the window to watch the owls fly towards us, bringing our results.

'Worried?' James asked me, using that high pitched voice that children use to annoy their siblings.

I punched him, the birds landing on the windowsill with a thud. We detached our envelopes from their legs and returned to the table, both standing instead of sitting.

'You both open them while I pay the birds,' Mrs P instructed, her tone serious all of a sudden. Mr Potter nodded, standing up and walking between the two of us.

I winked at him, opening my envelope. I read the introductory letter first.

_Dear Mr Black,_

_Enclosed in this letter are your OWL examination results and your 6th year supplies list._

_Yours Sincerely,_

_Minerva McGonagall._

James finished reading his the same time as myself.

'Ready?' I asked him.

'Of course,' he smiled, showing his pearly whites.

I opened the other letter, skimming through my results.

**Potions - O**

**Defence Against the Dark Arts - O**

**Herbology - E**

**Charms - E**

**Transfiguration - O**

**Divination - A**

**Care of Magical Creatures - O**

**Muggle Studies - O**

**History of Magic - A**

'Yes!' I shouted to myself, breathing a sigh of relief that I had unknowingly been holding in. I handed my letter to Mr Potter. 'Five O's, two E's, two A's!'

'Brilliant, Sirius!' he congratulated me. 'Nine OWL's, incredible!'

Mrs Potter smiled at me, turning to her son. 'James? What's wrong?'

James was unusually quiet, holding out his palm towards us, a glinting red and gold badge in his hand.

'What's that?' I questioned.

'I've been made Quidditch captain,' he told us. 'Me! James Potter! Leader of the Marauders and bringer of mischief! Devil of the Gryffindor house!'

I thought I was the dramatic one. I had completely forgotten that our last captain had left, leaving the position open for grabs.

'You have to be responsible now?' I stuck my tongue out in protest.

'You aren't upset?' he asked me, ignoring my comment. 'This could have been yours.'

I laughed. 'Upset? I'd rather take over as Leader of the Marauders than be captain. You know I can't handle responsibility!'

He shook his head in protest, smiling. 'I'm keeping that title, mate, but thanks.'

We looked to Mr and Mrs Potter, smiling with tears in the eyes.

'Look at our boy, Charlus,' Mrs P said, 'all grown up.'

'Our boys,' he corrected, placing a hand on my shoulder, my insides melting a little bit. This was my home now, my family. I smiled to myself, looking at the Potters.

'Of course,' Mrs P agreed, quickly hugging me in apology. 'Now, James, what OWL's did you get?'

He had inspected my results while we were talking, grinning over to me when she asked him. 'The same as Sirius, nine. In fact, we got exactly the same results... that's really weird.'

'You two are more alike than you know,' Mr P laughed.

I took James' letters, noticing he had an extra comment at the bottom of his results.

_Mr. Potter,_

_Enclosed in this envelope is a badge awarding you the responsibility of Captain for Gryffindor's Quidditch team. Your abilities far exceed others in the sport, and I hope you win the cup for us this year. _  
><em>Another message, please don't abuse this responsibility. I don't think I can take any more of yours and Mr Blacks antics, you're both sending me into a very early retirement.<em>

_Yours Sincerely,_

_Minerva McGonagall._

I laughed as I read the last line, handing it to Mr Potter, also laughing.

'Well, this is definitely a cause for celebration,' Mrs Potter announced. 'You both deserve a reward for all of your hard work.'

James and I shared a wink. I don't think either of us had written more than a paragraph during our entire time at Hogwarts.

'Indeed it does,' Mr P agreed. 'We'll be back later. Don't forget to send for Remus and Peter, I'm sure they're awaiting the go-ahead to come over.'

'Sure thing Mr P,' I nodded, holding the door open for them as they exited the room. 'See you later!'

'Behave!' Mrs P called out behind her as she headed for the door. 'Do anything stupid and we _will_ know!'

'Of course,' James shouted after them, chuckling to himself.

I shut the door, letting out another sigh of relief. 'That went better than I expected,' I admitted to James, 'and I expected good results!'

He laughed, picking up a final piece of bacon. 'Come on, we'll quickly try and get hold of the others and get the room ready.'

There were actually two spare bedrooms on James' floor, both opposite ours. Remus and Peter had stayed in them for a single night a few years ago, but we decided that staying in one room was far more entertaining, hence the decision to get the room ready.

'You know we could easily get Mr P to -' I waved my hands in a magical motion '- transfigure some beds into our room, rather than dragging them through physically.'

He frowned. 'Where's the fun in that, Black? Are you becoming tired in your old age?'

I slapped the back of his head, him hitting me twice as hard in the same place.

'Ouch!' I yelped. 'My body is strong, but the psychological damage is too much for my brain to handle!'

'What brain?' he questioned earnestly.

We stepped into our living room, myself starting the fire while James collected some floo powder from one of the drawers sitting beside it. He quickly walked over, undoing the pouch and dipping his hand into the soft powder.

'Lupin Household!' he requested, throwing the powder into the fire, green flames sizzling in response. A moment passed, the flames turning golden again, Remus' head popping up.

'Hey!' he greeted, smiling in the smoke.

'Moony!' I yelled in excitement. 'How was the furry problem this week? That's two we've missed now!'

He hushed me, looking around. 'My parents don't know that you know, keep it on the low. It was tricky, but I managed. I'll expand on it later if it's still okay for me to stay for the week?'

'Of course it is!' James said enthusiastically after greeting him. 'In the next twenty minutes if you can, you get your OWL's yet?'

'Yeah, I got them,' he chuckled. 'And give me thirty minutes, I'll floo over.'

'Great,' James smiled. 'See you soon mate!'

I cut of the connection, turning to James. 'Brilliant, more people! You were beginning to bore me.'

He punched me again, another witty protest escaping my lips. He threw more powder onto the fire.

'Pettigrew House!' he shouted.

The response was much quicker this time, but it wasn't Peter's face that appeared.

'Hello, this is Mr Pettigrew, how can I help?'

I looked at James, him taking the lead. 'This is Sirius Black and James Potter, sir. We were wondering if Peter is still up for joining us this last week of the holidays?'

'Sorry, boys,' the man said, recognising us. 'He's in bed with the flu. Hasn't even been up for his results yet.'

'We're sorry to hear that,' James sighed. 'When he wakes up tell him we called for him and that we're sending some chocolate over for him.'

'Will do, boys,' he thanked. 'Goodbye.'

He didn't wait for a reply, cutting us off and disappearing from the flames.

'Was any of that weird to you?' I asked James.

He shrugged, 'Not really, just a little depressing. We're the four Marauders, not three!'

I grinned. 'We'll see him next week, don't worry about that.'

'I'd almost forgotten that school is only a week away,' he realised, smiling again. 'I feel better now, we can live as a threesome for the time being.'

I smirked, standing back up. 'If you want to be a threesome that's fine with me.'

He looked to protest but shook his head, deciding it wasn't worth it. I walked over to the small desk and picking up some parchment and a quill, handing it to him. 'You've got nicer handwriting.'

He agreed, quickly scratching some words down while I collected some sweets from the overfilled drawer. I picked out some Chocolate Frogs and Sugar Quills, his favourites.

James handed the note to me, saying to add something to it while he ran upstairs to collect Poof. I checked his message before I added anything.

_Peter,_

_Sorry you couldn't come this week. Of all weeks to get the flu and it's this one! Anyway, here's some chocolate - hope you feel better soon. See you Monday!_

_James._

He'd pretty much covered everything that I could have said, only neater, so I just scrawled '_and Sirius' _onto the end of it. Grinning to myself, I nodded, satisfied with the letter. I grabbed a small box made of card, throwing the goodies into it and tying it up roughly with some tape._  
><em>

James re-entered the room, out of breath, holding Poof in his arms. We tied the box to his legs, adding the letter as an afterthought. Poor Poof almost collapsed, the heavy box too much for him to handle.

'Take this to Peter,' James told him, 'make sure he gets it!'

Poof hooted, flying out of the window. It took a few moments for his to actually get in the air but as soon as he did he sped off.

'Well,' I spoke, flopping down onto the comfy couch, picking out some liquorice wands. 'Now we wait for Remus.'

'Or my parents?' James added. 'Whoever decides to turn up first.' He ran his hand through his hair, his face slowly turning from relaxed to petrified.

'What?' I asked him.

'We aren't going to be able to play Quidditch equally!'

I sighed. I doubt that would be the last time he mentioned Quidditch this week. My ears pricked, footsteps sounding down the hallway.

'I think they're back,' I told James, his ears wiggling.

'Boys?' we heard Mrs P call out.

'In here!' James shouted back.

Mr Potter appeared first, opening our door and greeting us. 'Morning,' he said. 'I'll jump right into it. As we said we decided to get you a gift each. We knew exactly what would suit the two of you so we went directly there. You'd be surprised how long it took to convince the shop owner we wanted two!'

Mrs Potter walked in, carrying in each arm two of the finest brooms imaginable. My mouth dropped, James' hitting the floor. Nimbus 1000's. Top of the range. They were the fastest, most durable, most beautiful broomsticks that the wizarding world had to offer.

'Holy Merlin!' James shouted in glee, my mouth still open. He ran to hug the two of them, my body motionless. I had no idea they'd spend that much on me.

'This is incredible!' I finally whispered, bear-hugging Mr P and hugging Mrs P.

'You have no idea how amazing this is!' James ecstatically shouted. 'With me as captain and these as our brooms we are going to dominate the Quidditch field!'

'Watch your ego, son,' Mr P grinned, James taking his broom from his mother.

I accepted mine, thanking them a thousand times over. 'This is more than anything anyone has ever done for me before. Ever!' I told them, hugging them again.

'You're welcome, son,' Mr P chuckled again.

'I mean it, I really do,' I repeated. 'Not just this, though. Taking me in, looking after me for a month and not asking anything in return! I owe you both so much.'

They stood there, smiling at me. 'Think nothing of it, Sirius,' Mrs Potter beamed. 'We love you like a second son. You're family.'

My heart melted, myself hugging them once again. 'Thanks Mum, Dad.'

'Dude,' James spoke. 'It's really getting cheesy over there.'

I stuck my middle finger up at him, the fire suddenly lighting up and Remus crashing through with his suitcase. He quickly dusted himself off, then looking up at us, raising his eyebrow.

'I'm not interrupting anything, am I?' he grinned, Mr and Mrs Potter's arms still around me.

'Nope. No. Not at all,' I smirked. 'In fact, you're just in time!' I jumped onto him with a crushing hug, sending him pummeling into the floor.

'Guys!' he protested, his pale green eyes lighting up desperately, James joining in.

We smothered his face in pillows from the chairs, his weak arms struggling against us.

'Boys, enough!' Mrs P sternly demanded, James and I jumping up immediately.

Remus stayed on the floor, his mousy hair ruffled and body tangled in pillows, cheeks as red as tomatoes.

'We need to leave for work now,' Mr P informed us, a smile playing at his lips despite his wife's glare.

'Already?' James questioned.

'Busy times,' he shrugged in response, putting an arm around his wife. 'We'll be back soon enough.'

They began walking down the hall. 'See you later!' I shouted after them, 'and thank you!'

I turned around, James helping Remus to his feet, brushing him off again. 'That wasn't quite the welcome I was expecting, guys.'

'It's been an emotional morning,' I winked, sitting down on the couch again.

Remus never did like physical play-fights, whereas James and I would wrestle at least twice a day. In his defence he looked very out of place when he hit someone. He was too peaceful and kind to be involved in that sort of thing.

'You know, that's exactly what Sirius said when he turned up here,' James told him, looking thoughtfully at him.

'That's because you're crap at welcoming people!' I joked.

He chuckled, the two of them sitting beside me, Remus in the middle.

'So, how was your problem?' I asked him quickly.

'Difficult, as I said earlier,' he admitted. 'It's always hard when the two of you aren't there, but at least my next one will be with you guys.'

Remus usually transformed at Hogwarts in the Shrieking Shack with enough freedom to last him a lifetime. When he was at home, on the other hand, he was chained in the basement beneath his house. That, along with his parents not knowing that James and I knew about him, meant that we couldn't stay and help him.

'Sirius was all up for coming to join you,' James grinned. 'But we know you can't fit a stag and a dog in your basement.'

He nodded, smiling and thanking us for the thoughtfulness anyway.

James slapped his shoulder, standing up and looking at the two of us. 'Anyway, let Sirius grab your case and we'll head upstairs and show you the room!'

I smiled, not really wanting to refuse. Picking up his case, I followed them.

'We'll talk about OWL's, the new decor, and more as soon as we're up there!' James chatted enthusiastically.

I watched the two of them, excited for the week ahead.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Author's Note<strong>_

_- thanks to everyone that has followed already! It's nice to see people taking interest! -_

_Thanks to all of you if you stuck through to read this note, and please **Review**! I'd like to know where you want this story to go and what you think is going to happen!_

_As I am only going over and editing the chapters of the previous version of this story updates should be fairly regular, at least until I am writing fresh content again._

_Thanks for reading! Until next time!_

_P.S. I'm actually working on my very own original story right now! It would mean a lot to me if you could visit my profile and check out the Facebook link for it? Thank you!_


	4. Diagon Alley

**_Author's Note!_**

_Hey! Welcome to the new 'Forever and Always'!_

_This is a rewrite of my original story with the same title in the hope that this one will be a million times better. I hope you enjoy it and remember to leave a review if it entertains you! Thank you!_

_Chapter Four - _Diagon Alley__

_(thanks to '_AnotherJilyShipper' for reading and editing this!)__

_**Disclaimer:** Rowling owns it all, Merlin praise her._

_Enjoy!_

* * *

><p>It had been a day since Remus had arrived. We were all gathered around the fire in our bedroom, sitting on the couches eating foods I had never heard of. We were about to head into Diagon Alley to buy our new supplies. It turned out another letter had been attached to our OWL results listing all of the things we needed for sixth year, but James and I had been so caught up that we completely missed it. Luckily for us, Remus had suggested looking through the trash to find it, and somehow we actually had! We were meant to be in Diagon Alley already but we decided to relax a bit first. After all, we had the entire week.<p>

Yesterday, after we had greeted Moony and I had dragged his bloody heavy suitcase upstairs, we talked. Enjoying each others company was nice, something I craved a lot. I couldn't be on my own unless I was sleeping, I needed to be around others. We talked about OWLs, our NEWT subject choices, prank ideas, how to get Evans' to pay attention to James. Each of the subjects had been common ever since the beginning of fourth year, ever since the escalation of James' obsession with Evans. However, they were familiar and comfortable, passing the time nicely.

Remus had achieved nine OWLs in total, the same as us. We had all taken the same subjects for OWLs meaning it was an easy comparison. He received O's in everything but potions - he achieved only an E in that. I like to think that if James and I actually picked up a book then we'd ace everything as well, but I was happy with what I had accomplished. None of us knew what Peter had got exactly but he passed, thanks to James and Remus. They'd dragged him through the majority of it all, except Defence Against the Dark Arts and Herbology, he was surprisingly gifted in those subjects. Not as brilliant as us, but good. I, on the other hand, had no patience to help him. It wasn't that I didn't care, it was just I wasn't doing it myself and I couldn't spare the time.

Following the OWL comparison we talked NEWTs. James and I were continuing with all of our subjects at NEWT level, a surprise to McGonagall, Remus, Mr and Mrs P, and everyone else who knew us. We were the lazy ones, the procrastinators, never handing in work and always messing around. However, we figured that if we could achieve the grades we got at OWL level, how much more difficult could it be at NEWT level? If we picked up one book per subject then we'd probably pass. Remus also decided to carry on with all of his subjects, which was no surprise. Everyone expected him to be brilliant and pick them all. Pete had written to us to tell us he'd picked as many as he could, but in normal Pete fashion, he'd left out every single detail.

Once grades bored us, we talked girls. More specifically, Evans, to my distaste. Don't get me wrong, I liked the girl - she had a good temper, brilliant sense of humour, and boy could she send a brilliant curse our way - but I was so sick of talking about her! Remus was all us for trying to convince James to turn over a new leaf and mature, deflating his egotistic head. I, on the other hand, had another plan. I argued that he would just be creating a fake version of himself, and no girl hates anything more than a guy who lies about who he is. I told him he needed to carry on with what he was doing for one more year, and if it failed he could try Remus' plan for the final year. He seemed to side with me, to Remus' distaste, but he ultimately agreed it was worth the try.

During that conversation the topic of pranks came up. It was usually in this week that we'd talk confetti, fireworks, paint, glitter, and other brilliant props. My favourite had something to do with cheese and balloons, but as Pete wasn't there we decided to call it quits for the day. It would only take ten minutes on the train to plan our annual 'Return to Hogwarts' prank.

The final act of yesterday was dinner. We ate the delicious spaghetti that Izzy had prepared and then retired for the day, ending up to where we were now.

I picked up the supplies list that Remus had helped me find, reading through it once more.

_Mr Black,_

_As you successfully managed to acquire the grades you needed to pass each subject at OWL level last year, you may continue them at NEWT level as we decided last term. I wish you the best of luck, praying you get your head down and actually pick up your quill. These next two years are very important and you need to do all the work you can to achieve the grades you want._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Minerva McGonagall._

I grinned at her message, looking further down the parchment.

_For your sixth year, you will need:_

_Advanced Potion Making - Libatius Borage (Potions ingredients shall be provided)_

_Standard Book of Spells Grade 6 - Miranda Goshawk_

_A Guide to Advanced Transfiguration - Emeric Switch_

_Practical Advanced Defensive Spells - Vindictus Viridian_

_Muggles Who Notice - Blenheim Stalk_

'So,' I spoke with a stretch,' are we ready to go yet? I've ate about as much as I can here and I'm itching for an ice cream.'

James laughed, picking up an open box of Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans. 'You know you can get ice cream here without having to pay?'

'Not the same,' I refused. 'No ice cream is as magnificent as Florean Fortescue's.'

Remus feigned shock, grinning. 'You know when he says the word 'magnificent' he's excited. We better go!'

I threw a chocolate frog packet at his head.

'And when he starts to throw things we really better get on the move! Anyway, I could use the fresh air.'

James looked outside. 'I don't know, guys, it looks chilly. The fire is so cosy and warm.'

The fire wasn't even on. 'It's the middle of summer, James,' I told him. 'Plus, Evans might be there.'

He paused, them smirking to himself. 'I'll get some money and we'll floo to the Leaky Cauldron.'

He ran out of the room with his new found enthusiasm, leaving Remus and I to laugh at him. I picked myself up, walking over to my side of the bedroom. Remus' bed was propped in between James' and mine for the time being, still leaving plenty of room to make a mess. Ever since I had arrived the room was a sty. My clothes were everywhere, just as I had predicted, and sweet packets lay scattered across the floor. Dusty books, uneaten midnight snacks, plates and glasses, all littered across the floor preventing access to my trunk.

'Remus?' I called out to him.

'Yeah, Padfoot?'

'Fancy helping me clear a pathway to my trunk?'

He snorted from his seat. 'I'm a little busy.'

Nothing more than what I expected. 'I have a box of six chocolate frogs if you help.'

Quicker than you could say 'Quidditch', Remus and I were picking up rubbish and stacking books.

'You really are a messy git, Padfoot,' he informed me. 'Not even Peter is this messy.'

I feigned a look of hurt. 'How could you, Moony? I strive to be the cleanest, most hygienic person I can be!'

'That may be so,' he chuckled, throwing some rubbish into a bin, 'but when it comes to things other than your personal body, you're messy.'

I denied that, picking up the last of the pieces of rubbish. 'Right, onto the clothes!'

'Do you even know which of these are clean or dirty?' he questioned, holding a shirt in each hand.

'No idea, Moony,' I grinned, 'just throw them into the linen basket. All of these could do with a wash anyway, they're probably infected with germs from my house.'

'You mean to tell me you've been here longer than a month and none of these have been washed?'

I looked at him plainly, not knowing if he wanted an answer or not. He sighed, helping me to pick up the remainder of my clothes. By the time we were done the basket was overflowing and the plate pile was almost as large.

'Considering the crap on your floor, mate, that went quicker than I expected,' he smiled.

'You only did it for the chocolate,' I stated, opening my trunk and throwing him the promised goods.

'Nice doing business with you, Padfoot.' His eyes lit up like a child's at Christmas.

'Any time, Moony,' I said. 'You like chocolate more than I do anyway.'

I picked up another bag from my trunk, almost as heavy as Remus' was the previous night. Without the spell that had lightened mine there would have been no way I could have walked it to the Potter's.

'What's in there?' he asked me.

I opened it, pouring the entirety of it's contents onto my bed. Heavy golden coins scattered across the entire duvet, clinking as they fell against each other.

'Before I left my parent's house,' I told him, 'I broke into their safe. I figured that as I had been disowned and effectively thrown out to live by my own means then I'd take as much as I could. This was the largest bag I could grab.'

'That's hell of a lot of money, Sirius,' he admired, neither approving or disapproving with my behavior. 'You know the Potters would have supplied you with anything you needed?'

'I know,' I said, beginning to play with the coins. 'I don't like taking off of others, though, you know that.' He nodded. 'As much as I love the Potters, staying here really bothers me. I feel as though it's a free ride that I don't deserve. Besides, I feel much happier stealing from those bastards rather than taking it from Mr and Mrs P.'

He chuckled at my sense of judgement, passing me one of the chocolate frogs. I opened it and chucked him the money bag, knowing he'd want to play with the money. He loved to count coins which I found rather strange. I told him to keep about thirty galleons out so I had enough for my supplies. It was more than enough but I liked to be prepared.

James ran back into the room, looking at the now tidy floor and the money thrown onto my bed. He glanced at my direction, looking at me knowingly.

'I'm not even going to ask,' he sighed. 'Just hurry up and get over here.'

Remus stood up reluctantly, throwing the rest of the money into the bag rather than counting it, pointing to the coins he had left out for me. 'You may need something to put that in,' he smiled.

'I have another pouch,' I informed him, quickly looking through my suitcase and finding it, collecting the money.

'Okay, Remus, you first,' James announced, holding out the pouch of floo powder.

Remus walked over to the fireplace. With a wink, he threw the powder beneath him. 'The Leaky Cauldron!' he shouted, disappearing into thin air.

Before I could walked into the fire James grabbed my shoulder. 'You okay?'

'Yeah, just fine,' I said. 'We were just talking about my family and -'

'Say no more, mate,' he cut me off. 'I'll be right behind you.'

I smiled thankfully. James always knew that I never wanted to talk about my money or my family. It always made me uncomfortable. He felt the same, though. He'd much rather not talk about his fortune, the only difference being he'd talk about his parents for hours.

I threw the powder into the fire. 'The Leaky Cauldron!'

The room span around me, my environment changing. No sooner had I walked out of the fireplace and into The Leaky Cauldron, I was greeted by Remus. James popped up behind me, patting me on the back, quickly pushing us out of the crowded pub.

'Okay,' James spoke loudly above everyone else. 'All that's on my list this year are a bunch of books. You guys?'

'Same over here,' Remus shouted back, myself nodding in agreement.

'Flourish and Blotts it is, then!' he yelled to us, Remus smiling, happy it was a shop he actually enjoyed rather than spending hours looking at brooms.

The alley wasn't as crowded as usual, just loud - it was always loud. I looked down to the shop we were heading towards, taking in all of the wonderful things for sale either side of me. I made a mental note of everything worth buying, admiring it all, until I noticed something that caught my eyes. A red flash flicked across the alley, heading towards the bookstore. I grinned to myself, calling out to James, weaving himself between people.

He turned to me, annoyed with the crowd of people blocking his way. 'What?!'

Remus had a gleeful look on his face as well, noticing Evans.

'Guess who just walked into Flourish and Blotts,' I smirked, my inner demons excited for the argument that would inevitably follow as soon as they saw each other.

He looked at me blankly, his eyes suddenly widening and lighting up with hope. 'Evans?'

I nodded, James' grin wider than it had been all summer. Within the blink of an eye he had pushed his way through the entire crows, creating a very easy pathway for Remus and me to follow.

'You're an evil man, Padfoot,' Remus chuckled as we watched James reach the door.

I winked, 'C'mon, we don't want to miss this.'

We ran the remainder of the way, quickly enough just to hear the line we were so used to hearing.

'Hey, Evans!' James shouted, running his hand through his hair.

We walked over to where he was, his body leaning against a heavy bookshelf and his arms crossed against his chest. We looked over to the redhead, obviously not expecting to see us here.

'Remus?' Evans smiled, running straight past James and embracing him with a hug. 'I haven't seen you in weeks, how are you?

James glared at Remus with a stare so evil it could have killed him - Remus was getting closer attention from Evans in a moment than James had received in his entire life.

'Great,' he smiled, 'how are you?'

'Same old,' she smiled, her hair brushing against her chest. 'I'm staying with Olivia Rose, getting away from my sister. You know how it is.'

James' face now resembled that of a fish. His mouth opened and closed, as though Remus was a God. I had the same expression on my face. Never had Remus mentioned that he spoke to Evans as though she were a friend. Ever. James was going to be pissed as soon as he got Remus on his own.

'Yeah, I do,' he agreed. 'I'm staying with the two goldfish.'

He pointed to us, our mouths closing immediately, Evans looking at us with distaste.

A thought suddenly clicked in my mind. 'Rose is here?'

Rose was Evans' best friend - well, one of them. She was the most like Evans, except where Evans was gorgeous, Rose wasn't. At least not on the same scale. She had the same personality. She could argue as well as Evans, curse us just as well, hate us just as much, but she wasn't Evans. She had beautiful blonde hair, I'd give her that, and her eyes and smile were nice enough, but she never stood out to me. She was to me what Evans was to James. I couldn't count how many times we'd fought and argued, how many pranks we'd pulled on her and how many she'd thrown back in retaliation. She was actually rather good at it, though we'd never tell her such a thing.

Evans' face turned to mine, her emerald eyes penetrating mine. 'Black.'

'Ouch,' I grinned. 'Remus got a hug, can I get one of them as well? That tone wasn't much of a welcome.'

Her eyes flashed, an expression James was all too used to and one I didn't care to face. 'I'll find her myself, then,' I smiled.

I left them, walking up the stairs and leaving James and Remus to face the red beast while I searched for the blonde one. I walked down the aisle 'Magical Creatures', and over the top I noticed a bright, blonde head of hair.

I smirked to myself, standing opposite her, low enough so she couldn't see me. 'Rose!' I shouted, causing her to visibly jump in fright.

I heard a few books falling to the floor and a loud groan. 'Dammit.'

I laughed, walking over to the aisle she was in and smiling, her back to me. 'Rose, hasn't it been a while!'

Before she responded and before I could blink, her hand came around behind her and slapped me directly on the cheek, my face burning in pain.

I looked back at her, noticing her in a way I'd never noticed her before. Her cheeks were fuller, as were other parts of her body, and her amazing blue eyes sparkled - whether it was excitement or anger I wasn't too sure. Summer had been amazing to her! Her face was tanned, freckles stood out on her pretty nose. Her shiny hair reached to the bottom of her shoulder blades and was tied in a beautiful braid. She had grown about an inch, still a good seven or eight inches below me, but enough for me to notice. She wore a pretty summer dress, showing of her legs, breasts, and bum. I'd never noticed any of these things before but I was now and Merlin did she look good. She was stunning!

I tried regaining my tongue as soon as I stopped ogling her. I couldn't stare, it was Rose!

'Not quite the welcome I expected,' I admitted.

'Look at my hand, Black!' she shouted. 'That stupid prank you pulled on my at the end of last year scarred me!'

She held up the back of her hand for me to see, two white lines running across perfectly parallel. We'd charmed an owl to be twice its size, and somehow it had managed to scratch her palm in the process.

I smiled as sympathetically as I could, holding a hand to my heart. 'Once again, Rose, that wasn't directed at you, but I profusely apologise for the pain I may have caused.'

'It was bloody painful, Black!' she shouted, attracting the attention of an elderly witch behind us. 'And with no one around to heal it properly I was left with these ugly things!'

'I know how you feel,' I murmured, thinking of my back. 'But all's in the past now,' I winked, still staring. 'You can't blame it on me.'

'Why not?' And what are you staring at?' she blushed slightly, as did I, averting my eyes to hers.

'Well first of all it was a third party that injured you,' I informed her, ignoring the latter question for now. 'I can't be responsible for what a bloody bird does to you! Also, taking into account your interference, you brought it upon yourself!'

If looks could kill I'd be six feet under... in several places.

'Secondly, I was staring at you.'

I was saying too much.

'Me?'

'Summer has been good to you,' I winked. 'It just surprised me.'

Dammit! Why did I say that?

Her cheeks were red, either in anger or embarrassment. She smiled at me, taking me off guard, then kicking me directly in the knee. My balance was so out of proportion I fell to the floor and landed flat on my arse.

'You are one of the most arrogant, self-centered people I know!' she yelled, kicking me with every word.

I chuckled at the irony, her small feet not really doing all the much damage. 'You've been around Evans too much,' I told her. 'Her catch-phrases are rubbing off on you!'

At that point I felt a kick behind me, directly on the shoulder blade, Remus and James roaring in laughter.

'Ouch!' I yelled again. 'Why the abuse!'

'I take offence to that, Black!' Evans announced, kicking my softly again.

'Sirius?' Remus started mockingly, 'did you just get put on your arse by a girl?

James and Evans snorted in laughter, Olivia still glaring at me.

'Of course not,' I replied, standing up. 'It was quiet up here so I was offering Rose to join me for a little bit of fun.'

She slapped me again.

'Ouch!' I yelped, holding my cheek again. 'What is it with you slapping me, Rose?'

At this point even Evans had joined in with the laughter, Rose smiling a little bit. I'm glad my discomfort brought her joy.

James walked to me, handing me a bag of books. 'I got these while Evans was chatting up Remus,' he whispered while Rose caught up with him as well. 'You can pay me when we leave. He has a damn lot of explaining to do.'

I grinned, nodding in thanks. 'How does he hold a civil conversation with two of them?' I questioned to James. 'Can't he see how evil they are?'

He laughed, walking between the three of them. 'So, ladies, fancy joining us to get some ice cream?'

Evans looked at Remus, then at him. 'Another day, Potter.'

They both said goodbye to Remus, walking downstairs.

'Another time, Rose?' I called after her.

I heard another groan, smiling to myself, then facing Remus with my best evil-glare.

He sighed, James joining me. 'We'll get ice cream, go back to James', then we'll talk.'

* * *

><p>An hour later we were crowded around the fire in our bedroom once more, eating more chocolate frogs, completely ignoring the books that we had just bought.<p>

'So, Remus,' James said, making himself comfortable and acting civil. 'Explain.'

'Sure you can handle the truth?' Remus teased, immediately noticing his mistake as James' nostrils flared and fists tightened. 'I'm joking, mate.'

He picked up a chocolate frog. 'There really isn't much to tell. Lily and I were prefects together, remember? We patrolled the corridors together. Alone. It was incredibly tedious and boring because neither of us talked due to this stupid rivalry crap. So one night I just started talking to her. It took a while for her to talk back, but after about thirty minutes we were as good friends as ever. We realised that neither of us had any problem with the other person. So we talked every time we were together and opened up a little bit more each patrol, and here we are. I'm close with all of them now, including Marlene and Ashleigh.'

'So if it's nothing then why not tell us?' I asked him.

'Because if I had have told you what do you think would have happened? I'm pretty sure a certain someone would have used me to spy on another certain someone. You would have used me!'

James at least looked upset. 'You think I'd use you like that?'

'I think you're going to this year now you know,' Remus sighed. 'And you,' he added, pointing at me.

'What?' I questioned, confused.

'Since when have you liked Olivia?'

'You like Olivia!?' James yelled, sitting up as though he were a gossip girl.

'I like Olivia?' I questioned again, completely lost.

Remus laughed, 'It's obvious, mate. The way you acted in Flourish and Blotts. You definitely like her!'

'That's a strong accusation,' I told him. 'I admit, when I saw her I thought that she looked amazing and summer had definitely been good to her, but I don't _like_ her?'

He and James laughed.

'What?' I asked them.

'It's just that's exactly what James said about Lily and now look at him.'

'You have no chance,' James agreed. 'You're going to fall head over heels for her, live for her every moment, and want to be with her all the time. Trust me.'

I looked between the two of them, an eyebrow raised. 'Ten galleons says I wont be.'

'Deal,' they both immediately agreed.

I sat back on my chair, both of them staring at me, smiles wide.

'What?!' I exclaimed.

James chuckled manically, 'You're so screwed!'

* * *

><p><em><strong>Author's Note<strong>_

_- thanks to everyone that has followed already! It's nice to see people taking interest! -_

_Thanks to all of you if you stuck through to read this note, and please **Review**! I'd like to know where you want this story to go and what you think is going to happen!_

_As I am only going over and editing the chapters of the previous version of this story updates should be fairly regular, at least until I am writing fresh content again._

_Thanks for reading! Until next time!_

_P.S. I'm actually working on my very own original story right now! It would mean a lot to me if you could visit my profile and check out the Facebook link for it? Thank you!_


	5. The Hogwarts Express

**_Author's Note!_**

_Hey! Welcome to the new 'Forever and Always'!_

_This is a rewrite of my original story with the same title in the hope that this one will be a million times better. I hope you enjoy it and remember to leave a review if it entertains you! Thank you!_

_Chapter Five - The Hogwarts Express_

_(thanks to '_AnotherJilyShipper' for reading and editing this!)__

_**Disclaimer:** Rowling owns it all, Merlin praise her._

_Enjoy!_

* * *

><p>Morning came in a flash. Each of my dreams seemed to roll into one, ending abruptly when the summer sun hit my eyes through the small gap in the curtains. I couldn't remember what I was dreaming about but it must have been good. After all, who wakes up with a grin on their face? I looked at my suitcase, closed at the end of my bed. Something reminded me that it was important, especially for today. My brain whizzed and clicked as I suddenly remembered the date. It was time to head back to the most amazing place in the world - Hogwarts! Back to magic, Minnie, the school kitchens, Hogsmede!<p>

I sat up and threw my legs out of my bed, embracing the morning sunshine even more so than usual. It was a little brighter than the normal six o'clock morning sun, blinding me slightly. My eyes winced, looking over to the clock that hung directly opposite Remus' bed. A small, yellow note was sitting upon it. I groggily picked myself up and grabbed a pair of shoes. I threw one at James and the other at Remus. Somehow, I felt that I would need some distance this morning, rather than screaming into their ears. They were bloody horrible in the morning - good luck to Evans and whoever Remus ended up with. However, the two of them just grunted, my shoes obviously not having much of an effect on them.

I stood on my tiptoes and grabbed the note. A small, magical clock was ticking on it, looking as though it had been hand-drawn on in a hurry.

_Boys,_

_Your ruddy clock isn't working. Why you bought it is beyond me. We live in a world of magic and I can't repair a bloody muggle toy. I think it's something to do with the batteries in the back, the things that keep it running? Anyway, it was too early to wake you - Mrs P and I were called into work incredibly early - so I charmed a clock for you so you would know the right time. There will be a ministry car outside at exactly 10am, so do not be late!_

_From Mr P!_

'Prick,' I suddenly heard James growl, two minutes after I had waken him up. 'Too early.'

I laughed, reading the note again, this time actually looking at the clock in the corner. Quarter to ten. 'Shit.' I muttered.

Remus was now awake, also grumbling.

'Guys -' I started.

'I agree with James,' he yawned, pulling his covers over his face.

'Prongs -'

'It's like sleep is a foreign language to you,' James continued.

'Guys!' I yelled, the two of them sitting up and glaring at me, red-eyed. 'It's September first and it is _not_ early!'

They grinned at each other, ignoring the later half.

'I love today,' James sighed, looking dreamily at the ceiling.

'Wait,' Remus spoke, 'you let us sleep after six? That's not like you.'

I shifted a little, stepping over to my bathroom. 'Yes and no,' I told him, smiling. 'I only just woke up myself, and if I were you I'd start getting ready.'

I moved into my bathroom, leaning out the door when James spoke, giving me a questioning look. 'Start getting ready?' he looked at the clock.

Remus sighed, rolling his eyes. 'In the morning, James,' he started sarcastically, 'people tend to do things. That means washing, dressing, finishing the packing, the usual. That falls under the heading 'getting ready'.'

Remus was going to be more pissed than James was.

'How many times have I let you sleep in, James?' I questioned.

I saw his forehead frown in thought. 'Twice, but that's all. Never for a reason other than you yourself woke up late.'

'Correct!' I exclaimed happily. 'That leads me to my next question. How pissed off would you be if I told you that today was one of those days?'

James looked at Remus, the two of them then glaring at me.

'What time is it, Padfoot?' Remus asked me.

I grinned, ignoring his unkindly tone. 'Let's just say that the ministry car will be here in ten minutes.' Their faces were blank. 'It's ten to ten, guys,' I chuckled, pushing my door on. 'If I were you I'd get a move on!' I shouted as it shut.

'You bloody idiot, Padfoot!' James shouted furiously, groaning as he jumped out of bed.

'You're going to make me late!' I sang to them.

Remus shouted this time. 'You're a twat!'

I heard James rush into his bathroom, Remus exiting our room and heading to the spare one in his usual room. Thank Merlin we had more than one. I couldn't fathom why I was in such a good mood. If I didn't look perfect on the first day back I'd be pissed.

I took a very quick shower, brushed my lovely teeth until they were white, and ran my hands through my hair until it was to my standard. I then checked for spots, finding none as per usual, quickly rubbing on some face cream anyway - just in case. I added a bit of aftershave, eventually happy that nothing was out of place.

'Padfoot!' I heard James banging on my door. 'Hurry the hell up!

I took that as a sign to tie my towel around my waist and open the door, both of them standing there red-faced.

'Gentlemen,' I grinned, both fully dressed and ready to leave.

'You take longer than anyone I've ever met to get ready!' he informed me.

'Is that a compliment?' I asked, only receiving a frown in return. My humour was never appreciated.

'Get dressed!' Remus breathed, keeping his voice calm.

I dropped my towel, the two of them turning around immediately and moaning again.

'Dammit, Sirius,' James complained, running his hand through his hair. 'You have got to stop doing that!'

'People may begin to question your sexuality,' Remus added, facing the wall.

I laughed, quickly putting on the boxers that I had left out. 'Right, it's covered.'

They quickly turned around again, James nodding, sending Remus to pick up my case.

'Take that downstairs,' he instructed.

We had packed our bags the night before, making sure everything was already. We had only left out some essentials for the journey.

'If we've left anything we can owl my parents,' he told me, pushing me towards the door, apparently not noticing that the rest of my clothes were on my bed.

I ignored it as well. If he was going to rush me then I was going to ruin it for him. 'Got the cloak?'

He nodded, tapping his hoodie pocket, a noticeable bulge in it.

'The map?'

'Remus has it in his backpack,' he informed me. It was almost done now, only a few slight changes needed.

'The box of pranking material?'

He sighed, nodding. 'My case.'

We were nearly at the bottom of the stairs, Remus waiting in the middle of the ballroom with my case.

'Finally,' I added, 'do you have anything for me to wear? It's a little chilly.'

He stopped, looking me up and down. 'Shit. Remus, get his stuff.'

Remus quickly ran past us.

'All on my bed, buddy,' I called after him as he disappeared up the stairs. 'The leather jacket, jeans, socks, shoes, shirt! All of it! My wand as well!'

James looked at me, shaking his head. 'People usually learn to put on clothes within their first five years of being alive.'

I nodded. 'People also learn to notice when others aren't wearing their clothes.'

He swore at me, 'You're always naked anyway, I'm just used to it is all.'

I shrugged, grinning. 'Why couldn't I get my clothes?'

'Because it's nearly twenty past and if you went upstairs again we'd lose another half an hour.'

'Fair point,' I agreed.

James grabbed my suitcase, the other two already in the car, leading me towards the enormous door. Izzy quickly said goodbye to us, tears in her eyes. I gave her a wink as we walked out of the door, the ministry car-driver standing impatiently.

'Twenty minutes!' he barked, looking at me. 'It'll be a struggle getting you there!'

James smirked at him. 'Yes, but with your fantastic driving skills -'

'- and amazing sense of direction and timing -' I added,

'- we'll be there in no time!'

He puffed and pouted in response, an expression that looked odd on his face. 'Explain the lack of clothes.'

'They're on the way,' I replied with a shiver.

'They're actually here,' Remus suddenly puffed, throwing them all to me, favourite jacket and wand included.

'Good,' the driver nodded, 'get dressed. Our schedule is tight.'

After thirty minutes of intense huffing and puffing and grumbling and growling, we arrived - fully dressed - at King's Cross station.

'Well, it was a pleasure to be your driving companion,' James told him sincerely. He was just as good as I was when it came to keeping a straight face.

'We need to go,' I whispered to him. He grinned, all of us shaking the drivers hand and running off with our trunks. We reached a corner, Moony looking at us, confused.

'Dungbombs?' he asked.

We looked at each other and broke out laughing. 'He was miserable! Of course we used dungbombs!' I said between breaths.

'The most boring git we've ever drove with,' James added.

At that very moment, a loud bang came from the direction of the car, a scream sounding in response.

'That'll be them,' I smiled again. 'Quick, we need to get to the platform.'

Remus rolled his eyes as we weaved our way through crowds of people, heading towards the only platform that was important to us, the one that changed our lives forever. The one where the four of us met.

'After you, Jamsey,' Remus smiled, stopping when we saw the big 'Platform Nine and Three-Quarters' sign.

James gave a sarcastic laugh, running through the brick wall with his trunk dragging behind him.

I looked at the big clock on the wall. Ten to eleven.

'You're next, Padfoot,' Remus told me.

I ran towards the wall, closing my eyes and embracing impact. As usual, none came. I made it through for the sixth year, happy as could be. I stopped directly in front of the wall, the platform still full, Remus running into me. Once again I had forgotten to move, as I did every year. The two of us were sent flying to the floor.

'You're meant to move, Padfoot!' he shouted, standing up and helping me.

'I didn't have time,' I lied, pinning the blame onto him.

'Whatever,' he retaliated. 'James has left us so let's go put these trunks in the carriages and find him.'

I agreed, walking down the platform and weaving our way through the students who were just making their way onto the train. Sobbing parents stood waving at them, some still hugging. I could think of nothing worse. At least my parents never came to say goodbye.

I made a point to walk into as many smaller children as I could, chuckling evilly as they looked up to me with their innocent eyes. Remus told me off, apologising each time.

'Remus?' I heard behind us. 'Remus!'

Before I could turn around a girl sped past me, jumping onto Remus and hugging him. How over-enthusiastic.

'Where are my adoring female fans?' I questioned, looking around.

They both looked at me, Remus red and the girl laughing shamelessly. It turned out to be Ashleigh Gallant, a sixth year Gryffindor just like us.

She was the same height as Rose, just reaching my chest. Her eyes were acorn brown with green specs dotted across the iris', and she had chestnut hair that fell to her chest. Other than her name and appearance I didn't know anything about her. She was more into books and studying, which was probably why she got along so well with Remus and Evans and not at all with myself.

'Gallant,' I acknowledged. 'Since when are you and Remus bum-buddies?' I smirked a little.

'Black?' she smiled sweetly.

'Yeah?'

'Piss off?'

'How about no? Remus was mine first so you leave and -'

'Padfoot!' Remus stopped me.

That bastard.

'I see how it is. Poor Sirius Black, lone ranger, taking on the scary Hogwarts train all by himself, no one to help him.'

'I see Jane,' Remus cut me off.

I froze, not daring to move. Jane Morgan was the co-founder and leading member of an unofficial fan club devoted entirely to me. I couldn't believe members had signed up when I first heard of it, despite my ego. She was the most bitchy, horrible girl in school.

'Has she seen me?'

He looked in the direction behind me. 'Not if you get out of here quickly enough. Ditch your trunk and go. Now!'

'I owe you,' I smiled thankfully. 'Gallant,' I added in afterthought.

I ran through the thinning crowds, throwing my case into the carriage devoted to suitcases and hopping onto the train - all in one quick motion. I started walking down the train towards our usual compartment when I heard a voice behind me. 'Sirius!'

I knew that perfume, that voice. Remus was a bloody liar.

'Morgan!' I spun around with fake enthusiasm, clapping my hands together.

Ditched me for a girl. How dare he.

'How've you been?'

I'd kill him. Putting me through this, one of my best mates. Well, not anymore.

'Sirius?'

'You know what, I'm actually very busy,' I told her. 'So if you don't mind hopping along that would be great.'

She frowned and stepped towards me, pouting her lips and giving me puppy-dog eyes - the sort only I was good at. 'Don't you like me?' Tears set in her eyes.

'No, actually, so if you could leave that would be fantastic.'

She slapped me.

I clutched my cheek, a few onlookers laughing. 'What is it with girls slapping me?'

Tear openly ran down her cheeks now. 'I don't know what everyone sees in you, Black!' she shouted, turning around and running towards her Ravenclaw friends.

'You started the bloody fan club!' I yelled.

'Wow,' I heard behind me. 'You really know how to get the girl, Padfoot.'

'Wormtail!' I blurted, spinning around and tackling him in a massive hug.

Peter Pettigrew, the fourth and final member of our group. He was my opposite but I loved him to bits. He was rather short, a little out of place next to three tall friends. He stood at my nose, a few inches less than myself. Not only was he short, he didn't have and outstanding looks. He wasn't ugly at all, just a little bland. He had no defining features that made him stand out like the three of us but he was nice enough looking. He had short, blond curly locks with pale blue eyes. His nose and chin pointed, his skin almost as pale as Moony's. He was also brilliant. He could get us out of trouble easily, get a hold of things that us guys usually couldn't, and had an amazing sense of humour. He was a perfect member of our group. When James and I went off on our own he was good for Moony. When I was alone with him he suited my personality, and when he was with James they were brilliant together, they could come up with the best pranks. His personality adapted to suit all of ours, something that both helped us and fed all of our egos.

'We've missed you!' I shouted, receiving weird looks from the crowds inside the train.

He grimaced, 'I think you've crushed my lungs.'

I laughed, letting go of him and studying his face.

'Nice mark on your face,' he grinned.

'I ran into a hand-shaped door.'

'Sure you did,' he rolled his eyes.

'Did you get us a compartment?' I asked him, noticing his hands empty and lack of jacket.

'Nope,' he admitted. 'Every single one is full, I've never known it to be this busy.'

'Even our one?' I questioned.

'I think there were some girls in there,' he remembered.

'No way!' I murmured to him, grinning. 'Let's go check again, just in case James kicked them out.'

A loud ringing pounded my ears, the signal to the start of the train. It was eleven on the dot.

We walked down the tight corridor, avoiding the people we wanted to avoid and occasionally stopping to chat to a few worthy people. We reached the compartments and I peered inside, noticing something frightful.

I quickly ducked down, pulling Pete with me. 'You'll never guess who's in there!' He went to stand. 'No, you prat - guess!'

'You know I hate guessing!'

'It's the bloody red-beast and blonde-beast, along with one of their accomplices. And get this, Remus!'

He grinned. 'Since when did he become part of _that _foursome? He belongs to our foursome.'

I gagged a little. 'Wrong use of words, mate.'

'Sorry.'

I waved it off. 'Come on, we'll surprise them.'

We both stood up and quickly opened the door, all of them staring at us, Rose and Evans especially.

'Red-beast?' Evans questioned, crossing her arms, eyes blazing.

'Blonde-beast?' Rose added, giving me the same look.

Remus chuckled, standing up. I refused to acknowledge the girls, quickly pulling him out.

'Great, all of us except James.' I smiled, Remus greeting Pete quickly.

'I'm right here?' James announced behind me, scaring half the life out of me.

'James!' I cursed him with a hug. 'We thought you had been attacked, left for dead! We were worried sick!'

He smiled, glancing into the compartment but turning away, quickly greeting Pete. 'I got us a compartment, I don't fancy sharing one with them.'

I looked at him, slightly confused. Usually he'd jump at the chance to be with Evans. We followed him down to a small compartment, left alone with a small second year standing outside it.

'You can go now, Barry,' James grinned, winking at us. 'Thanks for looking after the compartment.'

James flicked him two galleons, opening the door as the kid ran away. To be honest that wasn't abnormal behavior for James. Paying others to do something was quite easy for him. We crowded in, Remus smiling. I noticed a first year outside, dressed in their robes.

'Guys, did you put your cases in the carriage? I didn't get my robes out!' I questioned.

We sat down, myself opposite James and next to Remus. 'I picked them out and put them in here,' Remus told me, throwing his backpack to the floor.

'Good,' I said, relieved. 'So, first thing, James. Where did you go?'

He sighed. 'I saw red.'

I looked at Remus, then at Pete. 'Now when you say that do you mean you were angry and wanted to kill people or you saw Evans.'

He glared at me, myself grinning in response. 'Evans,' he growled. 'But she turned me down so I decided to find this compartment instead of arguing to get her out of ours.'

I nodded. 'Okay, that leads us to Remus.' I looked at him. 'Why were you with them?'

He held his hands out in protest. 'I've already told you! I'm close to them now! We were talking about summer, Ashleigh started walking towards the train so I naturally followed, ending up with them in that compartment.'

'Which is why we're in this crappy one,' James added.

I nodded, a sudden realisation coming over me. 'You love Gallant!' I accused.

'Do not!' he blushed.

Unfortunately for him, he couldn't keep a straight face like James and I could.

'You like her, which also explains why you lied about Morgan.'

James snapped his fingers. 'That explains the mark on your face!'

I nodded, all of us stopping with the questions, Remus neither admitting or denying my accusation, leading me to believe I was right.

Pete coughed, catching our attention. 'I'm still here!'

'And Pete!' I added, continuing as though he said nothing. 'How was your summer.'

He went into a detailed description of everything he had done, including how ill he had been. Apparently it was the worse he had felt in years, but our little goody bag cheered him up as soon as he received it. He said he had a good enough time but wished he could have spent it with us instead. We told him about what we did in response, himself grinning and laughing at each of our stories.

It turned out he received only five OWLs. It was a pass, meaning he could take enough subjects at NEWT level to not fail school completely, but it wasn't brilliant. He passed Defence Against the Dark Arts, Charms, Transfiguration, Care of Magical Creatures, and Herbology. He was therefore continuing them, so at least he was going to be in five of our classes. In my eyes, though, that meant he could just spend more time planning pranks and getting stuff done for me as his work load was going to be a lot less. It all worked out quite well in the end.

'Right,' Remus smiled after he had finished explaining his NEWT year. 'I have a quick prefect meeting. Give me twenty minutes and I'll be back. We need to plan the welcome back prank.'

We all nodded, James bringing out an enormous notebook filled to the brim with our ideas. 'Don't be long,' he chuckled.

* * *

><p>Exactly twenty minutes later, Remus reappeared, red hair quickly passing our window.<p>

James shot up. 'Was that -'

'Lily?' Remus finished. 'Yes. She's a prefect, remember, which is why I'm close to them,' he added, looking at me.

I raised my hands, not wanting to argue with him.

'So,' he sat down, 'what did you find?'

Pete decided to step up and take the lead. 'We found an interesting spell in that strange book we found last year,' he told Remus, pointing to the leather-bound book with a picture of a laughing witch on the front.

'Look at page ninety-eight,' James told him, handing it to him.

Remus opened the book, scanning the page.

'I'm not sure how we missed it before,' James smiled. 'It has so much potential.'

'_Minutum Maxima_,' Remus whispered. 'What's the aim?'

'Well,' James said, 'it's simple but effective. Watch.'

He pointed his wand at a pile of unused books, whispering the spell. They jiggled a bit, eventually shrinking. They got smaller and smaller until they were the size of a needle.

'The best part is that it has a specific counter-curse, so only we can undo it,' Pete grinned.

'Brilliant!' Remus exclaimed, his face immediately turning blank again with a sarcastic gaze. 'What's the aim?'

'The aim,' James spoke, 'is to use the spell on all the cutlery, plates, and goblets. It will be great for Flitwick but for everyone else it will be like eating with pins and drinking from bottle-caps.'

'Wouldn't_ Reducio_ work?' Remus asked.

'Technically, no. Not on this scale,' James informed him.

Remus looked at me, unimpressed. I couldn't quite remember when he became so passionate about pranking, he used to be so against it. 'Is this good for you?'

'I want more,' I said immediately. 'This is crap compared to what we've done before.'

'Sirius,' James moaned. 'We turned people's clothes purple last year! That was crap! This will at least be brilliant to watch.'

'I want gunge and glitter,' I told him, looking to Remus for back-up.

He nodded, agreeing with me. 'We need lots of gunge and lots of glitter.'

'Fine,' James reluctantly conceded, scratching his head.

Half an hour later, the plan was complete. James was going to take the invisibility cloak and his broom, flying up to the castle before everyone else could get there and hurrying to the kitchens. There he would tell the house elves to put some tiny devices that we had invented in third year into the cake mixture. Those devices would go off an hour after a spell was cursed, meaning James would say the spell in the kitchens and by the time the food was ready to eat they would take effect. When they were to explode, they would send masses of gunge and glitter in every direction. If our calculations were correct, all of this was to happen halfway through the feast, after everyone thought we were done.

Remus looked at his watch, suddenly jumping and grabbing his bag. 'We better get changed!' he exclaimed. 'We have twenty five minutes!'

We hurriedly piled all of the books back into Peter's case, changing our clothes.

'This can only go brilliantly, James,' I told him. 'No mistakes!'

He frowned at me. 'I'm a professional, you twit. Of course it'll be perfect.'

I nodded, pulling my robes on. 'Okay, are we all ready? This has to work. Remember, the spell has to be muttered at the exact same time, then James will say the one at the end. Understood?'

'Yes, sir!' they replied, all dramatically saluting me. I growled, the train coming to a stop. A sudden wave of chatter ran past our door, everyone loading onto the station floor.

'This will be great,' I grinned, James winking at me.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Author's Note<strong>_

_- thanks to everyone that has followed already! It's nice to see people taking interest! -_

_Thanks to all of you if you stuck through to read this note, and please **Review**! I'd like to know where you want this story to go and what you think is going to happen!_

_As I am only going over and editing the chapters of the previous version of this story updates should be fairly regular, at least until I am writing fresh content again._

_Thanks for reading! Until next time!_

_P.S. I'm actually working on my very own original story right now! It would mean a lot to me if you could visit my profile and check out the Facebook link for it? Thank you!_


	6. The Welcome Back Prank

**_Author's Note!_**

_Hey! Welcome to the new 'Forever and Always'!_

_This is a rewrite of my original story with the same title in the hope that this one will be a million times better. I hope you enjoy it and remember to leave a review if it entertains you! Thank you!_

_Chapter Six - _The Welcome Back Prank__

_(thanks to '_AnotherJilyShipper' for reading and editing this!)__

_**Disclaimer:** Rowling owns it all, Merlin praise her._

_Enjoy!_

* * *

><p>The train screamed as we came to a stop, the whistle shattering my ear drums with a ferocity only a mandrake's scream could match. I rubbed my ears, Remus picking up his bag and holding the door open for me. I nodded in thanks, walking out onto the platform. Each of us ran behind a large wall, ducking down so no one could hear us. I looked around to make sure no one had followed us, signalling for James to call his broom when the coast was clear, most children walking up to Hagrid in the distance.<p>

He nodded, holding up his wand. '_Accio_ broom!'

Before you could say 'Quidditch' a shiny broom flew towards us. It fell neatly into James' large hands. I quickly looked up again. The evening was rather dark and with all of us in black cloaks no one could see what we were doing.

'Okay,' Remus said. 'Straight to the house elves. You have the map, cloak, and material?'

He double checked his robe pockets and nodded. Mounting his broom and grinning, he turned to fly. 'See you soon. Give Evans my love, seems you guys will be sharing a carriage!'

He lifted off, pointing to the last remaining carriage, the girls rushing hurriedly towards it. If they were late, we were going to be even later. Remus and I shared a glance, Peter gulping.

'You think we should...' I made a gesture.

'I think so,' Remus agreed.

We quickly waved to James, disappearing into the dark, starless night, and ran as fast as we could towards the carriage.

'Rose!' I shouted down the path, Remus shouting at Evans and Gallant.

'Girls!' I yelled again, this time a head popping out of one of the windows.

'Black?' I heard a voice shout questionably. 'What do you want?'

'Stop. The. Bloody. Carriage!' I panted, the girls all looking at us and laughing.

It slowly came to a stop, somehow. As they were pulled magically I had no idea how they managed to do it, but it stopped - thank Merlin.

Evans and Rose sat at the window, staring at us. 'What do you want?' Evans asked.

'We need a ride,' Remus spoke, probably for the better. If I had said anything they would have cursed me and left me in the dust.

'Only for you, Remus,' Evans smiled, opening the door with a smile. Pete and I stepped in with slightly less comfortable stares.

I thanked them anyway, Pete and Remus catching their breath as they sat next to me, opposite the girls. It was silent for a moment, almost uncomfortable, until Evans spoke.

'Where is your blood brother, Black?' she asked, peering out of the window.

'And why are you so late?' Rose asked, raising an eyebrow.

'James appears to have gone ahead,' I told Evans, her eyes lighting up thankfully. 'But I will tell him your worry for his whereabouts, I'm sure he'll be thrilled!'

She frowned and shook her hands in protest. 'I didn't mean it like that!'

I chuckled, 'Keep that up and it might lead me to believe otherwise.'

Remus punched me, telling me to shut up, Rose and Gallant doing the same.

'What is this, pick on Sirius day?' I asked, looking at Pete for backup.

They ignored me, Evans speaking up. 'Why were you late?'

I shrugged, 'Ran into some pressing business.'

'What business?' Gallant questioned.

'Difficult business.'

'Bloody hell, Black,' Evans sighed, 'and you wonder why we don't like you. Pettigrew, what business?'

Pete fell back into his chair, avoiding her gaze.

'We can never get a straight answer out of Black so you need to tell us,' Evans continued.

Pete looked at me. I gave him my best threatening glare and he covered his eyes. 'If I can't see either of you then I don't have to answer,' he squeaked.

Evans looked back at me with yet another glare. 'I'm surprised that look isn't set on your face yet, Evans,' I told her.

'Soon enough,' she growled, reaching for her wand.

'Whoa, Lily,' Remus smiled warmly, 'ignore him! He knows how to piss all of you off so just talk among yourselves. I'll babysit him.'

'I don't want to be babysat!' I protested, pushing the hair out of my eyes and behind my head.

Remus looked at me. 'Can you behave?'

I nodded eagerly.

Rose tutted. 'Is he always like that?'

'Usually he's pretty smart and rather funny, you girls seem to have a bad effect on him.'

I rolled my eyes, sitting up and straightening my tie sarcastically. 'If it's smarts you want then let's all be smart together. What were your OWL results, Rose?'

Remus gave up, talking to Evans and Gallant, leaving Pete to join in when and if he pleased.

I looked at Rose, her attention seeming to come back to me. 'You were actually interested?'

'You wanted smarts, Rose, I can be smart. What did you get for OWL's?'

Rose was a pureblood, meaning both parents were magical. Well, that was only to my nearest knowledge. I didn't know her family beyond that. From what I did know, though, she seemed to have a small and simple family that acted on the same grounds as James' - providing happiness and laughter and comfort. It appeared as though they were rather well off as well, having all of the Gryffindor girls over the summer. She acted to them like James acted to myself and the guys. That must mean that she had a rather large house at least. Down to personality; she was smart and talented, matched with stubbornness, rudeness, and a hint of evil.

She reluctantly reached into her pocket, pulling out a letter and handing it to me. 'If you really want to know.'

I took it and read it, not really interested but wanting to show that I was just as smart as Remus.

_Dear Ms Rose,_

_Enclosed in this letter are your OWL examination results and your 6th year supplies list._

_Yours Sincerely,_

_Minerva McGonagall._

**Potions - O**

**Defence Against the Dark Arts - O**

**Charms - E**

**Transfiguration - O**

**Care of Magical Creatures - E**

**History of Magic - E**

**Muggle Studies - O**

**Studies of Ancient Runes - E**

**Divination - A**

I folded the letter and handed it back to her. 'Pretty good, Rose.'

'Better than you?' she asked, taking it and placing it in her pocket.

'Not quite,' I grinned.

She shrugged. 'At least I have looks to fall back on. You look like a shaggy dog, Black.'

I put my hand to my heart in pain, sobbing slightly. 'I worked so hard on my appearance today as well.'

She stuck her tongue out, turning to Remus. 'What are you doing for NEWT's, Remus?'

He looked to me. 'Exactly the same as him. James, Sirius, and I are carrying on with all of our OWL subjects.'

'Did you make a bet with each other as well?' Evans asked.

'A bet?' Remus questioned.

'We're doing the same, bar Marlene. She failed History of Magic so she's only doing eight NEWT's, but the three of us have bet against who can come out with the best marks.'

Remus laughed. 'No, we didn't bet. James and Sirius just wanted to see if they could carry on without doing any work and still pass everything, and I wanted the challenge.'

'Doesn't surprise me at all,' Evans admitted, looking at me. 'Two egotistical buggers who think they can rule the school carrying on for a joke and the smart guy wanting to set real life goals for himself.'

She looked for me to protest, but she was actually spot on with her definition. She shook her head in mild distaste, looking out the window.

'We're here,' Gallant nodded to the window, Evans squeezing her leg in excitement.

The door opened swiftly, each of us stepping out and looking at the entrance to the magnificent building.

'Home sweet home,' I smiled, Evans actually nodding in agreement with me, a smile at her lips.

'Right,' Rose spoke, 'shall we find Marlene, girls?'

The all said goodbye to Remus, only nodding to me as they left, myself rolling my eyes. People were still crowding into the school, McGonagall's voice rising above them all and shouting directions and instructions. I winked at Remus, rushing ahead to greet her.

'Minnie!' I exclaimed, lifting her up with a hug, several people laughing around me.

'Mr Black!' she shrieked, 'put me down this instant!'

I laughed, placing her back on the ground, Remus standing with his head in his hands, blatantly embarrassed with me.

'Careful you don't get detention on your first evening, Mr Black!' she threatened.

'Don't be like that, Minnie,' I cried, waving my hands in the air. 'What kind of greeting is that?'

She ignored me, her young face looking around and directing students to the Great Hall. 'I must say I was surprised when Mr Potter arrived on his own, the three of you absent,' she smiled at Remus and Peter in acknowledgement.

I shrugged, 'We were too slow for him.'

She sighed, pointing to stairs behind her. 'Get to the Great Hall, boys. The sorting will be starting as soon as the boats arrive.'

We nodded, walking down the corridor, passing the suitcases all stacked up neatly. Remus chucked his backpack onto it, making sure he had his wand on him.

'No funny business, gentlemen,' McGonagall shouted after us.

I grinned to myself, walking into the Great Hall, smelling the start of the new year. The professors were sat at their desks at the end of the hall, all sitting and looking over the new and returning students. My eyes fell to a mess of black hair. I tapped Remus and pointed, quickly walking over to James and seating myself next to him.

He breathed a sigh of relief as we sat beside him, his hazel eyes alight with excitement and his body tense for the feast to start. 'You have no idea how hard it was to get it all sorted,' he whispered, children sitting around us. 'Not only that, when I'm alone people think they can walk with me and ask me personal questions! Especially those fifth year girls! Sirius, you're never leaving my side again!'

I chuckled, leaning in and lowering my voice even more so. 'Did everything go to plan?'

He grinned, 'Perfectly. I had a minor issue when Marlene noticed me, but other than that it was fine.'

'Good,' I nodded. 'Wait, Marls is here?'

Marls and I had known each other from childhood. As we were both purebloods from families with a very high reputation we had practically grown up together. She was one of my closest friends - we had sickly nicknames for each other and everything!

I looked down the table, noticing her not three seats away from me, her blonde hair conflicting Evans' next to her. 'Marls!' I shouted down the table, waving.

'Siri!' she cried back, blowing me kisses. The few second years that separated us laughed, moving aside so we could wave obscene gestures at each other.

Remus grabbed my shirt and pulled me back to my seat, pointing down the hall to the door. McGonagall was waiting for me to settle, hands on her hips. I waved an apology, her finally entering the room with the petrified first years.

'Okay,' I whispered. 'How long until the spell?'

Remus looked at his watch. 'It's hard to tell; the food isn't here yet. We'll give it five minutes after the food arrives.'

We all nodded, sitting back to enjoy the scared first years. We often made bets on who would end up going where, but somehow that had slipped our minds this year. I looked to Dumbledore, a twinkle in his eyes and a smile at his lips, enjoying the sorting. He noticed James and I staring at him, his lustrous beard glistening with silver. He lowered his gaze as though he knew something, tapping his watch four times.

'Was that to us?' James asked me.

I shrugged, 'Probably just telling us how long the food is going to be. He knows how much we love food.'

He agreed with me, McGonagall reading out the last name on the list. 'Zain, Michael,' she shouted.

He nervously walked atop the raised platform, sitting on the stool as she placed the hat on his head. A brief moment passed, the hat suddenly shouting 'Hufflepuff', the resident members of the house cheering as he walked to their table.

Dumbledore stood up, walking to his pedestal and raising his hands for silence, emitting a natural kindness.

'Welcome to another year at Hogwarts,' he spoke to everyone above second year, 'and welcome to our new students. I hope the days you spend here are most wonderful. Speeches are powerful and influential things, so listen very carefully.. Shall we eat?'

He waved his hands in a magical manner and mountains of food appeared on each table, the first years amazed. Shouts of joy escaped everyone's lips, mine included.

'Thank you, Professor!' I shouted above everyone else, James chanting next to me, the people surrounding us laughing.

'You're most welcome,' he spoke to no one, holding up a glass, returning to his seat.

A few first years were seated around us, introducing themselves to second years. I couldn't remember being that small. They all looked like lost lambs. They were short, the boys had no facial hair, the girls were flat chested - not a sign of maturity on them. They seemed too young to be here.

Marlene whistled to me down the table. 'Have you done anything to the food this year?' she asked. All students who heard her dropped their cutlery, looking at us for an answer.

'No, Marls,' I grinned, people sighing in response, the first years especially.

'Except the chicken,' James spoke with a menacing face. I smirked evilly, the children around us dropping their chicken in horror.

Marlene waved a chicken leg in her hand, pointing it at us. 'Really?'

I winked at her to signal it was fine, not wanting the children around us to find out.

'I really wouldn't touch that,' I whispered to them, lowering my voice to a growl. Their poor, innocent faces looked so worried, bless them.

James picked up a piece of chicken, taking a bite out of it and staring at them. 'You don't have the anti-venoms in your body to deal with what we've put in this.'

'Yet.' I added, Evans spinning around and glaring at us, obviously hearing the entire thing.

'Would you stop scaring those poor children!' she shouted, the small kids looking frightened beyond their wits. 'The chicken is fine,' she told them, taking a bite out of a piece to prove her point. That didn't stop them looking to us for confirmation.

'Only if you can handle it,' James winked at them, still emotionless.

'Prat,' Evans called out, practically yelling for the new students to eat the chicken.

James nodded to me, Remus and Pete as well. We each pulled our wands out of our pockets, keeping them hidden under the table. James lifted his left hand onto the table, tapping the countdown, 3, 2, 1. We each whispered the spell, no one noticing that we had done it. We immediately pocketed out wands, lifting our hands back out from under the table and continuing to eat with grins plastered on our faces.

The effects we immediate. People shouted in horror, their knives and forks shrinking in their hands. Food began falling onto their clothes and the table in front of them. Everything we had planned was happening. The plates on the table disappeared beneath the food sat upon them, napkins shrinking to the size of a fingernail. Dumbledore had pie in his beard, Hagrid fumbling around trying to find his spoon. McGonagall sat with an empty stare, looking at the mess we had caused with no life in her eyes, as though she was done with it all.

Dumbledore stood up, pulling out his wand with one hand and eating some pie with the other. He raised his wand in an attempt to cease the chaos. I was surprised at how many people were annoyed with food falling onto their clothes rather than the miniature knives that could essentially stab them as soon as they sat back down.

'Students,' he chuckled. no one really paying attention. He raised his voice, '_Engorgio_!'

I didn't expect the cutlery to go back to normal size, but the effects it had were tremendous. His pedestal suddenly started to shrink, clinking and clanking sounding behind us. All students looked to the armour that was screeching as it shrank, holding their ears, the first and second years terrified. Those who were more used to the pranks of Hogwarts were enjoying the show.

Beneath us I could feel the table groaning. Everyone who hadn't already stood up jumped from their seats, just in time to see the table shrink, leaving only the food at regular size. The banners above our tables looked like paper towels, the pictures on the wall were now the size of a galleon!

I spun to Peter, staring at him. 'What's happening, Pete?' I asked with a whisper. 'You never mentioned any side effects!'

'I don't know!' he stuttered, the people around us oblivious to our conversation 'I must have -'

'Missed it?' James finished for him. 'Yeah, we know that one!'

'Well,' I looked to Remus, 'how do we fix it?'

He didn't reply to me, staring straight through my body. I gulped, turning around to see none other than Professor McGonagall glaring at us, tapping her toes. The room became increasingly silent, Dumbledore still eating his pie.

'I should be shocked,' she spoke loudly. 'I should be appalled to find four of my top students creating this much havoc on the first day.'

'But you're not?' James hoped.

She glared at him. 'Shocked? No, I'm not. I'm incredibly aggravated, Mr Potter, so keeping your voice down would be tremendous for your benefit.'

He stared at me with a shrug, the entire Great Hall focused on us - even the ghosts were staring. The older students seemed to be enjoying our display, apparently used to it, whereas the younger ones were a little more disappointed. Their clothes were a mess and they had no idea what had happened. Their first meal ended up as a food fight - the cutlery versus them. Marlene caught my eye, running a thumb across her throat in mockery.

'What was the spell?' McGonagall requested angrily.

'_Min... Minutum Maxima_,' Remus stuttered.

She raised her brow, a few of the older students nodding in approval. Her lips twitched slightly. 'Are you sure? That spell is an incredibly difficult one, far beyond the Ordinary Wizarding Level. In fact, beyond NEWT level as well.'

James and I grinned to each other, winking. 'Sure it was, Minnie,' I spoke, increasing the volume of my voice so everyone could hear our accomplishment. 'None of this would have happened if we hadn't of used it.'

She nodded, raising her wand to set everything straight. I looked to Dumbledore, allowing the head of Gryffindor house to continue with setting things right.

Remus caught my attention, tapping his watch in a panic. I shrugged, not understanding, only then realising - _Bang_! _Bang_! _Bang_!

In rapid succession loud bangs began going off all over the Great Hall. The cakes that were set on every table started blowing up, causing another wave of shrieks and laughter among the entire student body. I covered my eyes with my hand, bright green gunge flying everywhere, covering ever student from head to toe. The gunge was amazing in the fact that the colours would change after five seconds. Bangs continued going off, tsunamis of gunge following. The mixture of responses were amazing. People couldn't hide under the tables so they were using anyone larger than them as a human shield. McGonagall stood with her hands still raised, her glasses covered like a windshield on a snowy morning. James, Remus, Pete, and I were the only ones who seemed to just stand there, activity in every other place.

When the bangs began to fade out, pops replaced them. _Pop_! _Pop_! _Pop_! This time, spirals of glitter shrouded the room. It stuck to the gunge that was set everywhere, creating a disco-ball effect, only much messier. If people weren't annoyed yet they would have been now. Marlene and her group were trying to shake as much of it off as they could. First years were screaming, seventh years were waving their wands to clean themselves. Dumbledore had avoided it all, merrily watching the event he was witnessing. Hagrid and Flitwick seemed to avoid the gunge, only the glitter sticking to them.

A few minutes passed, the shrieking and laughing dying down. Everyone stared back towards us. The only noise that could be heard was the occasional drip of gunge, most of it from the four of us. The scary lady standing in front of us, unmoved, sighed.

'Is it over now?' she asked us.

We each nodded, James taking off his glasses and wiping them down with what little clean skin he could find.

'Good,' she nodded quietly. 'As each of you has detention for the next two weeks. Every day for an hour each evening.'

Dumbledore coughed, increasing the size of his pedestal. I frowned, looking around me, nothing else returning to its normal size.

'No need, Professor,' he hummed. He waved his wand, everything cleaning itself off and returning to its normal size. The food was back on the table as though it had never been contaminated and the knives and forks were all back in their original places. 'No harm done,' he finished, smiling.

People grinned at first, then laughing. As soon as everyone realised it was all a joke and a laugh they became much more humorous about it all. Some moody gits frowned in disappointment, wanting to see some punishment.

Dumbledore smiled, holding up his hands and signalling for each of us to sit down. Minnie whispered at us, 'We aren't finished,' walking back up to the Professor's table.

'A little fun and humour should never be punished,' Dumbledore smiled. 'I knew everything the boys had planned, ensuring it was safe.'

We all looked at each other, confused.

'He didn't know,' James ensured us. 'He didn't see me do anything. He couldn't have?'

Dumbledore continued. 'We need these years at Hogwarts to keep us safe from the outside world,' he insisted. 'When you leave this school you will enter a world of danger, a world of darkness. We must all remember that laughter and joy should be at the top of our lists. The world is a scary place at the moment. There are murders, disappearances, dark wizards... We must fight that. Here we teach you what you can, but the happiness and joy comes from you. These boys have created the first unified laughter of all of you this year, and though I ask for them not to do anything on that scale again, we must thank them for that.'

He paused, warm smiles set on most faces. The Slytherins were mixed, half enjoying what we had just done and half as miserable as ever.

'Now,' he finished. 'Eat up. Dinner is going cold.'

* * *

><p>As soon as the last bite had been eaten, Dumbledore signaled for the prefects to lead the first years to their common rooms, the rest of us leaving as we pleased. We left the Great Hall like superheroes, receiving attention from everyone. Some people smiled, some patted our back. A few of the older students were convinced it was our best prank yet, talking with us for the majority of the walk back to the common rooms. People were optimistic and happy, which was always nice to see.<p>

We entered the common room to find it almost empty. Marlene sat by the fire, the four of us joining her. I pulled her into a hug, greeting her properly.

'Did you enjoy that, Marls?' I asked her, James and Remus hugging her next, Peter nodding and smiling.

'It was a bit lousy,' she said solemnly. 'Gunge and glitter? Really?'

We all laughed, chucking whatever was near us at her, her brown eyes glinting.

She seemed to be the odd one out in her group, the only one to actually get along with the four of us. She also looked the most different out of the girls. The other three were had very similar figures - skinny, long and straight hair, small breasts and bums. They generally looked smaller and more fragile. Marlene, on the other hand, was much curvier. Her waist was small and stomach flat, her breasts and bum much larger than the others. She was the most active, always jogging and playing whatever sport she could. She could take us all in a fist fight any day. Her blonde hair was short and curly, her eyes brown. She had full lips, large brown eyes, and puffy cheeks dotted with freckles. If she and I weren't so close and had not grown up together we probably would have ended up with each other, so I was told by James.

'Okay,' she giggled, pushing the pillows and books off of her. 'It was pretty awesome.'

James grinned, 'And did the other girls enjoy our work?

'If you mean Lily, James, then yes. She found it amusing. They all did.'

He nodded. 'Great, I should ask her -'

'No, James,' she stopped him. 'You shouldn't. Give it a while.'

He sighed and stepped up, stretching. 'Well, it's time for bed. I'll ponder what to do in the morning.'

Marlene held her hands out and waved them in front of them. 'I am here, right?' she asked me. 'I just told you what to do!'

'Alright, I won't ask her out!' James snorted, winking.

'I'm being serious!' she hit him.

'I'm Sirius?' I added, receiving a punch from Remus and her.

She rolled her eyes, standing up and walking over to the stairs. 'I'm going to bed,' she smiled, 'and do not do anything stupid, James!'

He repeated her words imitating her voice, nodding towards the dormitories. 'Come on, guys.'

We headed to our dorms, following Marlene up the stairs. Her dorm was the closest one to ours, both of them being fairly separated from the rest of the student's. Luckily for us our room only had four guys in it. That meant that we could endlessly sneak out, plan pranks, and get up to mischief without anything else interrupting us.

We each quickly changed our clothes, our suitcases already sat at the end of our beds. We decided that we'd unpack properly in the morning, not bothering to wash or close the curtains. It had been a long day. It felt good to be back in our dorm. It was familiar and comfortable.

'Good job tonight,' James murmured from his pillow, setting his glasses down on his bedside table.

'Night,' I whispered back, closing my eyes. My mind started buzzing, my eyes suddenly drooping, darkness upon me faster than I could realise.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Author's Note<strong>_

_- thanks to everyone that has followed already! It's nice to see people taking interest! -_

_Thanks to all of you if you stuck through to read this note, and please **Review**! I'd like to know where you want this story to go and what you think is going to happen! And to those that have reviewed (all **one** of you (**Guest**)), I appreciate it so much! Thank you!_

_As I am only going over and editing the chapters of the previous version of this story updates should be fairly regular, at least until I am writing fresh content again._

_Thanks for reading! Until next time!_


	7. First Day Shenanigans

**_Author's Note!_**

_Hey! Welcome to the new 'Forever and Always'!_

_This is a rewrite of my original story with the same title in the hope that this one will be a million times better. I hope you enjoy it and remember to leave a review if it entertains you! Thank you!_

_Chapter Seven - First Day Shenanigans_

_**Disclaimer:** Rowling owns it all, Merlin praise her._

_Enjoy!_

* * *

><p>'I'm thinking Healer,' James chatted to me as we walked down the Grand Staircase.<p>

We awoke early, the pale sunlight peeking through our curtains - the sunshine was still with us, thankfully. Remus had shouted at me for walking around in my underwear, only to be fully defeated when James did the exact same thing - he could be such a prude!

We quickly showered, dressed, and awoke Peter, deciding to leave Remus with him so we could head down to the Great Hall for breakfast. It was only half past seven and many people were still in bed. Gryffindors were renowned for being late sleepers and grouchy in the mornings, but anyone who had to share a room with me had to change their attitude.

'Why?' I asked him, frowning. 'You could be Head of the Auror Department. Even your parents said how few people were signing on to fight dark wizards.'

He shrugged. 'It's not a final decision, mate, it's just an option. I don't want to follow my parents forever.'

His parents had been Aurors since the day they left school and James sometimes felt a little overwhelmed by it all. They were so high up in the Ministry it's no wonder James fancied a different career path. He always said he'd felt as though he'd been given a free ride with his parents, though he never acted that way. In fact, he embraced it.

'I mean it's up to you,' I said, 'I just think you can do more good as an Auror.'

He nodded, the two of us stepping into the Great Hall, the only Gryffindors above second year to be there. Every year the first years would arrive early on the first day, they always felt they had to be on time to make sure they were in the right place. When James and I had first arrived, on the other hand, we ended up late to our first lesson with black soot covering us head to toe, somehow walking through a fireplace along the way.

'We're so early,' James tutted, hitting me in resentment.

I stuck my tongue out, sitting next to him and placing my bag on the floor. There was no food on the tables yet, only mugs of orange juice.

'I can't believe there's no coffee here,' I sighed.

'It's not a drink typical to our world, mate,' James told me, pouring some juice. 'And it's for the better with you. You can't handle coffee.'

'Can too!' I argued. 'It just adds to my personality a small amount.'

He rolled his eyes, pushing his glasses up his nose. 'You wouldn't sit still last time you drank it. You ended up flying around on your broom for three hours, coming inside only to swim.'

'Whatever,' I ended, pushing the conversation away.

'Boys,' I heard behind us. We turned, facing McGonagall. 'A little early for you, wouldn't you say?'

We nodded. 'Bright and early for the first day back,' James grinned.

She almost smiled, waving her wand instead. Two pieces of parchment came flying towards her from the Professor's table. 'As you're here, you may as well have these.'

I took one, James looking at his. 'Thank you, Professor,' he said.

'NEWT year is upon us, boys,' she addressed us. 'I expect you to study hard and at least put some effort into your subjects. I've taken the liberty of setting up Quidditch trials for you, Potter. They will take place the week after next. You need a whole new team so pick carefully and win us the cup again this year.'

She nodded to us, setting off down the table to speak to some first years. Our Quidditch team was torn apart at the end of last year. We'd lost two chasers, a seeker, and a beater, meaning we had to replace them all. Our last team had such good chemistry as well, we were unbeatable.

I looked at my parchment. 'Our new timetables,' I smiled, excited.

'Only we have Double Potions with the Slytherins,' James scowled.

'You think they'll ever learn that we don't like them?' I asked him.

He shook his head, 'Apparently not.'

'At least we have Double Herbology with the Hufflepuffs after lunch, I've always liked those guys,' I pointed out.

He agreed, taking a sip of his drink and pointing to the door. 'Marls is coming.'

I noticed her in the distance, greeting us with a smile as she sat beside me.

'Morning run?' I asked her.

'Nope,' she grimaced. 'First day back, are you kidding me?'

'Why so early, then?' James asked her.

She shrugged, pouring herself a drink. 'The girls were taking forever. Why don't they have coffee here?'

I banged the table in agreement, looking at James. 'She agrees with me!'

She laughed, 'Oh no, Sirius. You can't handle coffee.'

James banged the table this time. 'She agrees with me!'

'I agree with both of you,' she smiled. 'Hey,' she looked to me. 'I heard about what happened with you and your parents. We all heard.'

'Did you tell anyone?' I asked immediately.

'No, Siri,' she denied. 'Just my family. They sided with you, actually. We've cut off all connection with the Blacks. You're welcome to stay whenever you want.'

My heart warmed a little, my hand squeezing hers. 'Thanks, Marls.'

She nodded, pulling her blonde hair over her shoulder, looking around the table. 'Where are the other two devils?'

'Still getting ready,' James told her. 'We are only down here so early because Sirius is a bloody nightmare.'

She smiled sympathetically, agreeing with him. 'I'm so glad you don't share a room with me, Siri. Before Hogwarts you were just as bad.'

'Before Hogwarts?' James asked.

She sipped her juice, grinning. 'We've told you before. We used to stay at each others houses every weekend and as many times as possible through the week. The way I see it, James, I've had my time so now it's yours.'

He shook his head, scowling. 'That was never part of the deal! You can have him back.'

'I don't want him back, I see him often enough.'

I couldn't help but feel slightly unwanted. 'I'm here, guys. You know that, right?'

Marls tapped my leg, 'I'm only joking, Siri, I'll take you back whenever James has had enough of you! In the summer as well - remember, the offer is always open to stay as often as you want!'

'I'm going to be there every night now,' I winked, food suddenly appearing in front of us.

'Brilliant!' James exclaimed. 'Let's eat!'

* * *

><p>Half an hour later we were finished eating, Remus and Peter eventually joining us. Marlene left to join the other girls, sitting considerably further up the table. Everyone went through the standard procedure of receiving their new timetables and instructions from their Head of House. McGonagall looked as though she were about to drop to the floor with exhaustion when she finished, only just reaching her seat and sitting down, rubbing her eyes.<p>

'Potions is in ten minutes, guys,' Remus informed us, studying his timetable. 'Shall we head on down there?'

I stared at him with a look of horror planted on my face.

Remus rolled his eyes, 'It was worth a try. We'll be fashionably late as always.'

James grinned, piling more food onto his plate. Even I didn't eat as much as that boy. Remus and Pete stood up, their bags falling behind their shoulders.

'I'll get us some seats,' Remus informed us, taking the last piece of toast and walking down the hall with a wink. He looked abnormally cool, buttons undone and jacket hanging loosely from his waist.

'Good idea,' James shouted after him with a mouth full, Marlene walking back towards us.

'What are you doing now you don't have potions, Pete?' I asked.

He shrugged, 'Nothing today, I don't have any work to catch up on, but later this week I'll be studying my other subjects. I need to pass them.'

I nodded in agreement, him picking up his stuff and walking away as Marlene sat down.

'I always end up with just the two of you,' she frowned.

'Has Evans changed her mind?' James asked with crumbs around his mouth.

Marlene shook her head in disgust. 'How could you possibly think she'd change her mind when you look like that?'

He brushed the crumbs off of his lips, smiling and winking. 'What about now?'

'Course she has, James,' she spoke. 'In fact, she's on her way to potions now, why don't you go ask her out?'

He agreed, tapping me on the shoulder as he picked up his back and ran down the hall shouting after her.

'That's exactly the opposite of what you told him to do last night,' I pointed out, standing with her and beginning to walk to Potions.

'I know,' she admitted, 'but he's useless so I may as well have some fun with him, at least until he learns to listen to me.'

I agreed, the two of us reaching the door and making our way through mountains of students. They seemed to multiply every year, more and more of them blocking the way out.

'Out of the way you mangy rats!' I shouted, grabbing Marlene's wrist and pulling her through the new parting. Only the students in the year above us seemed to stay still, not bothered by my antics.

'Frank,' I nodded to our new Head Boy.

Frank Longbottom was a good guy, putting up with myself and the other Marauders in each of our years, always there to offer advice and such. He turned a blind eye when he thought necessary and ratted us out if he thought we were in the wrong. Overall, though, he was an awesome dude and brilliant with magic.

He was holding hands with his girlfriend, Alice Prewett, the two of them smiling at us. She wasn't Head Girl but she might as well have been, she practically ran the school with Frank. They were a brilliant combination, and the two of them being Gryffindors was a bonus.

'Nice welcome yesterday,' he winked at me. 'Not too many more like that though else I'll have to report you!'

'Sure you will, mate,' I teased. 'And I'll be Head Boy next year. You enjoy them as much as we do.'

'I do not!' he denied rather loudly, just in case any professors were near. 'But I do have an idea I want to pitch to you,' he added in a whisper.

'Frank!' his girlfriend hit him, 'don't encourage him!'

'Could you move?' a third year asked behind me, his green tie glinting at me.

'Sure,' Frank nodded, pushing me on. 'See you later, Black.'

I continued walking with Marlene, pulling her towards the dungeons.

'Sirius, there really is no need to pull me anymore,' she pointed at her wrist. 'After six years I can firmly state that I know my way around this school.'

'Just making sure,' I beamed, letting go of her anyway.

We reached the closed door, Slughorn walking towards us.

'Listen,' Marls grinned, 'we need a proper chat like we used to have.'

'Same time and place?' I asked her, a nod in response.

Marlene and I, growing up together, had this connection that meant we talked about everything. It was something James and I lacked a little - don't get me wrong, James and I talked about almost everything, it was just a few of the more sensitive topics that I liked to talk to Marlene about. Talking to a girl was completely different than talking to a guy. There were always two different perspectives. Marlene was my oldest friend so we tended to continue our talks as often as possible.

'Ah, Sirius m'boy,' Slughorn smiled happily, resting his hands on his stomach. 'Miss McKinnon as well. Why aren't you inside my classroom yet?'

'Why aren't you, sir?' I questioned, a booming laugh following.

'The cheek,' he chuckled to himself. 'In,' he waved, 'the both of you.'

We made our way in, Marls and I separating to sit with our friends.

'Took you long enough,' Remus observed. 'James got here just after I did, to my surprise.'

'How'd the magnificent date go?' I asked the brooding idiot, chin resting in his hands.

'Hmph,' he growled, staring into the black cauldron in front of him.

'That well, huh?' I grinned, looking to Slughorn.

He coughed for our attention. 'Welcome NEWT students!' he beamed. 'You're all here because of your exceptional talents in potion making, your OWL grade allowing you to continue with this tricky subject.' He looked around his desk, exclaiming to himself when he found a sheet of parchment. 'This year, things shall be done a little differently. We will be working in pairs to complete tasks together and you will receive a combined grade that will work towards your final NEWT result. If you lack the ability to work with others then you will bring not only your grade down but theirs as well. You will need teamwork and cooperation.'

I looked to James and Remus, worried. We always worked together.

'I will announce the groups and you will move to sit with your new partner. Afterwards, we will be making a devastating potion, the_Draught of Living Death_! So pay close attention.'

I turned to James, rolling my eyes. 'Typical. The year we are ready to be model students and he is going to split us up.'

He laughed, Slughorn hushing us and looking through his glasses at the list of names on his parchment.

'Lupin and Gallant,' he announced. We waved a tearful goodbye to our furry friend, his cheeks a little red as he moved to sit with Gallant, Marlene standing up when he requested her seat.

'Potter and McKinnon.'

James sighed, hoping for the redhead. Marlene came over to us and smirked, hitting James playfully as she sat down in Remus' seat.

Slughorn continued with the Slytherin pairs.

'So, you and me Potter,' Marls whispered. 'The fun we're going to have together.'

He rested his head on his shoulder, looking at her with his mouth open. 'Brilliant.'

'I'm offended,' she laughed.

'And finally,' Slughorn announced, 'as I don't trust the Slytherins and Gryffindors to work together without arguments, I need a threesome, so Evans, Rose, and Black will be working together.'

I looked to James, thoroughly annoyed. I picked up my bag and walked over to the blonde and red-haired beasts, sitting down with a loud thump between the two of them, their eyes squinting together as though they were evaluating me.

'So, we're going to have a threesome then?' I questioned, the two of them sticking their tongues out in disgust. 'You could put those to better use if you want?' I grinned, receiving two slaps on my shoulders.

Slughorn peered above his list. 'Maybe I should separate you three,' he muttered.

'No!' Evans and Rose exclaimed next to me, glancing over at the Slytherin groups. 'We'll be fine,' Evans added.

'Don't bring us down, Black,' Rose whispered to me.

I rolled my eyes. 'Really, me bring you down. I'm brilliant at potions and neither of you can deny it!'

They looked at each other, shaking their heads. 'No,' Evans said, 'we can deny it.'

'Yeah,' Rose agreed. 'I totally deny it.'

'This is going to be a long lesson,' I murmured to myself, Remus smiling at me from his seat.

* * *

><p>Nearly two hours later, my threesome and the rest of the class sat in front of our cauldrons, Slughorn inspecting each of them.<p>

'Full marks,' he said as he walked past Snape and his partner, 'full marks to Lupin and Gallant, full marks to Marlene and Potter.'

I looked to the girls beside me, now with their top two buttons undone, revealing a fair amount of cleavage. I thanked Merlin for the hot classroom. Rose looked amazing and Evans wasn't far off. I pushed Rose out of my head, frowning at the thought of it. The last thing I wanted to do was develop a crush. From now on, no looking at Rose. No looking at her amazing hair, her eyes, her chest, her arse, her legs, her smile...

'Black!' Slughorn exclaimed. 'Your group has done tremendously. This is almost as perfect as Snape's!'

I sneered my nose at his name, Evans and Rose doing the same. At least we had that as common ground.

'Full marks and twenty points to Gryffindor and Slytherin,' he smiled. 'Now, a flask from each group would be fantastic. Remember to name them and place them on my desk. You know what to do with the remains.'

The lesson ended soon after. Rose and Evans nodded goodbye to me, my eyes lingering with Rose's for a few seconds too many. Marlene jabbed me in the stomach as she walked past, Gallant following her. I waited for James and Remus.

'That went better than I expected,' I said to James as we walked towards the bathroom on the fifth floor before we went to lunch. 'No curses were aimed at me, no swear words, not even a stern glare after we started.'

'I wanted Evans,' he muttered with a scowl.

Remus sighed next to him. 'You have Marlene, James, the only one you get along with. I'd say you lucked out.'

'But if I were with her I could prove how awesome and smart I am and then she'd fall in love with me.'

'Not with that attitude,' I frowned again. 'Always with the ego,' I said to Remus.

'Pot calling the kettle black much?' Remus accused.

James and I stopped, looking at him.

'Is it a play on words?' James questioned, staring at the bloke.

'I don't know, he mentioned my name so maybe it's a pun?'

'Pretty crap one if you ask me,' James added, continuing to walk, pushing past Remus.

'Never mind,' Remus spoke as we headed for the bathroom.

Lunch went as normal. James and I had a little duel in the Great Hall, James ending up with a tongue ten inches too long and myself with ears five times too big. Laughter ran through the hall until Remus finally caved in and fixed us.

* * *

><p>Herbology was fairly interesting. There wasn't actually a rule saying we had to work in pairs or groups but I liked to anyway, ending up with James and Marlene while Remus was with Peter. Our task was to set up some Mandrakes for the second years to re-pot on the morrow. We managed to get through a whole bunch before the end of the lesson, gaining us twenty points for Gryffindor. We also had some fun with a couple of Hufflepuffs, their sense of humour almost as brilliant as ours.<p>

At the end of the day we were drained. The first day back was always so tiring, and although Marauder tradition was to steal some food from the kitchens after the first day of each week, we decided to live with the food from the feast instead.

McGonagall gave a speech about how important it was to study, Dumbledore nodding absently in the background, twirling his beard. The only positive I could see to having a beard would be to do that. He looked so majestic.

When we were back in the common room, I decided to sit by the fire for ten minutes before I headed up to bed. Marlene joined me, myself spreading my body across her lap after she sat down, squashing her legs. Children walked past us, their eyes filled with curiosity as they looked at the two of us.

'Inquisitive little buggers, aren't they,' I tutted, shooing them away. 'It's going to be a pain in the arse convincing all the younger children we aren't dating again.'

She shrugged, pushing all of my hair into my eyes. 'Maybe if you were actually in a real relationship they'd stop asking questions.'

'What's that meant to mean?' I asked, peering through my hair.

'You always dot about from girl to girl looking for a snog, never actually in a real relationship. You spread all these rumours about girls you've shagged and everyone follows you for the same treatment.'

'Hey!' I objected. 'I don't spread those rumours, the girls who want me do.'

She giggled evilly, 'It would be a shame if they found you'd only slept with -'

'Whoa!' I stopped her, shooting up and looking around the room, mostly empty now. 'Don't go there, my reputation would be ruined!'

She carried on giggling.

'Besides,' I said, 'you've only had two as well.'

She shrugged, 'So? My reputation isn't as widespread as yours. Imagine the travesty if people found out your number wasn't fifty - just two! I don't know how you guys managed to get such a reputation!'

'It comes with the good looks, love,' I grinned cheekily.

She rolled her eyes. 'Either way, if you were in a real relationship people would stop questioning who you were with every time they saw you.'

I pouted, 'Real relationships sound boring. Besides, there's no one at Hogwarts that catches my eye.'

'No one?' she smiled. 'You sure?'

I didn't like where this conversation was going. 'Shall we go to bed now? I'm rather tired actually.'

'Siri!' she shouted as I stood up, taking her with me. 'Do you like someone?'

'Nope.'

'Sirius Orion Black, answer me!'

We started walking up the stairs to our dorm. 'Nope,' I replied again.

She moaned behind me, wiping the hair off of her forehead and running her hands through it. 'Fine, but when we have our chat this Friday I am going to find out!'

'Love you, Marls,' I called out to her as I opened my door. Her dorm was actually directly opposite ours, only there was an incline of stairs to stop intruders. Our dorms where the only ones in Gryffindor tower to be this close together, the majority of girls and boys dorms separated by a fair distance.

'Love you, Sirius,' she sighed back, myself shutting the door.

I made my way to my bed, quickly undressing and falling beneath my covers, welcoming the sleep my body so craved.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Author's Note<strong>_

_- thanks to everyone that has followed already! It's nice to see people taking interest! -_

_Thanks to all of you if you stuck through to read this note, and please **Review**! I'd like to know where you want this story to go and what you think is going to happen! And to those that have reviewed (all **one** of you), I appreciate it so much! Thank you!_

_I'm back to writing this story with a completely different plot line now, so the original plot can no longer help me speed things up! Tell me what you'd like to see?!_

_Thanks for reading! Until next time!_


End file.
